A comparison of India and China in terms of contribution of international trade

Indias total merchandise trade increased over two-fold from US$312bn in FY2007 to US$792bn in FY2013 Decline in exports during 2012/2013 due to decline in global import demand Trade-GDP ratio increased from 32.7% inFY2007 to 43% in FY2013 Exports-GDP ratio increased from 13.4% in FY2007 to 16.3% in FY2013 Share of India in world merchandise export1.6% in 2012; Rank19 (up from 26th in 2007)

India's Exports 2012-13(in %)

Latin CIS & America Baltics 1% 4% Africa 10% North America 13% Others 2%

Asia 51%

Europe 19%

Source: MoCI

Indian Exports FY 2013 US $ bn

Japan Germany UK

Indian Imports FY 2013 US $ bn

Germany Indonesia

6 7 9 10 11 12 14 14

14 15 16 17 20 24

Qatar Kuwait Iraq USA Switzerland Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia
Netherlands HongKong China Singapore USA UAE

30
34 38 54 0 20 40

36

UAE China

36
0 10 Source: MoCI 20 30 40

60

155

56

Indias Imports FY 2013 US $ bn

47

Indias Exports FY 2013 US $ bn

62 33 31 30 19 17 14 13 12

24

21 14 14 10 9 7 7

Source: MoCI

Exports Merchandise
excluding EU Services excluding EU

Imports 19
13 8 5

China India China India 1

2 5 3

2
3 3 3

12
7 7 5

Oil Prices Oil accounts for 30% of India's import bill, but the country produces only 25% of its domestic requirement. Demand for oil continues to rise in a growing economy with annual imports rising by 10% but domestic production up by only 2% over the last seven years Gold India consumes a quarter of the global gold demand of 4,000 tonnes, and spends about 12% of its import bill on the metal. Despite a doubling of import duty on the metal recently, the purchase of gold continues unabated: India imported a whopping 850 tonnes of the yellow metal in 2012. POLICIESExports, on the other hand, have slowed down, leading to the deficit. Led by burgeoning info-tech revolution at home, India's export of services has grown at a rapid clip in the past decade. But the global slowdown has hit service exports: $36bn (23.7bn) in the last quarter, down from $37bn (24.3bn) in the same period the previous year. There has also been a marked decline in exports of engineering goods, textiles and iron ore. India has financed the latest $33bn CAD by a combination of debt ($21bn)

exports of iron ore are suffering Allegations of corruption in the allocation of iron ore mines and slow regulatory processes, including environmental clearances, have nearly crippled the industry. In an ideal situation, either all ore available should be processed in the steel plants to enhance value added exports or a certain portion of ore should be allowed for export.
There is also a case for curbing non-productive imports like gold. Hiking import duty has not helped much because of Indians' insatiable craving for the yellow metal. A public awareness programme against gold consumption ndia needs to step up domestic energy production by pushing shale gas excavations, new oil field explorations and renewable energy sources like wind. Power outages are impacting growth: Consumer confidence is low and could impact consumption: