China emerges as India's top import source during April-September 2024: Commerce ministry data

China is now India’s top import source with USD 56.29 billion in shipments from April to September this fiscal. The US is the leading export destination, with goods worth USD 40.38 billion. Imports from Russia, the UAE, and other countries also increased. The US remains India’s largest trading partner, followed by China. China has emerged as India’s top import source with USD 56.29 billion worth of inbound shipments during the April-September period of this fiscal, according to the commerce ministry data.

During the period, the US emerged as the top export destination for the country with outbound shipments increasing by 5.62% to USD 40.38 billion. The imports from China rose by 11.5% during the first half of this fiscal. The imports stood at USD 50.48 billion during April-September 2023. During the period, the top 10 import sources of India were China, Russia, UAE, US, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Korea, Switzerland and Singapore, the data showed. Imports from Russia rose to USD 32.18 billion during April-September this fiscal from USD 30.43 billion a year ago.

Similarly, the inbound shipments from the UAE rose to USD 31.46 billion from USD 20.70 billion in the first half of the last fiscal. During the period, the top 10 export destinations of the country were the US, UAE, Netherlands, UK, China, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, Bangladesh, Germany and South Africa. Exports to the UAE rose from USD 15.47 billion during April-September 2023 to USD 17.24 billion during April-September this fiscal. In 2023-24, the US was India’s largest trading partner, followed by China. China was India’s top trading partner from 2013-14 till 2017-18 and in 2020-21. Before China, the UAE was the country’s largest trading partner. The US was also the largest partner in 2021-22 and 2022-23.