India’s Chinese import bill to rise further
Of these, $100 billion of imports were in major industrial product categories, amounting to 30% of such imports, and that share stood over 70% for some products. Fifteen years ago, China’s share of the same goods’ imports was 21%, the study said.
For its analysis, GTRI dened industrial goods by excluding agriculture, ores, minerals, petroleum, gems and jewellery products. The industrial goods analysed through product-level import data in the study represent 98.5% of India’s imports from China.
GTRI illustrated the “signicant reliance on imports from China across various sectors”, citing trends from the rst 10 months of 2023-24. Almost 42% of India’s textile and clothing imports and 40% of its machinery imports in the period came from China, while that number was 38.4% for electronics, telecom and electrical products.
China also accounted for 29.2% of chemicals and pharmaceuticals imports into India, 25.8% of plastic product imports and 23.3% of automobile sector inbound shipments. A lower dependence on China was seen in the case of iron, steel and base metal imports, with just a 17.6% share of inows coming from the neighbouring nation.
The strategic implications of this dependency are ‘profound’ and aect not only economic but national security dimensions, the study said, mooting a reassessment of strategies. “This is imperative not only to mitigate economic risks but also to bolster domestic industries and reduce dependency on single-country imports, especially from a geopolitical competitor like China,” it said.