India's trade gap with China soars in Apr-Oct

The country's green transition increases reliance on Chinese imports

- Rhik Kundu

India's merchandise trade deficit with China rose 13% during the first seven months of 2024-25, despite government measures to reduce reliance on the Asian manufacturing major, and restrictions on importing certain products from the country.

India's goods trade deficit with China widened to $57.83 billion in April-October from $51.12 billion a year ago, according to data from the commerce and industry ministry.

In October, trade deficit stood at $8.46 billion, up from $8.27 billion a year ago.

A trade deficit occurs when imports exceed exports.

China was the largest source of India's imports in the April-October period, followed by Russia and the UAE.

In value terms, imports from China were nearly double those from Russia and about 2.5 times from the UAE.

In April-October, goods imports from China stood at $65.90 billion, up from $60.01 billion a year earlier.

Exports to China fell to $8.06 billion from $8.89 billion in the year-ago period.

In October, imports from China stood at $9.61 billion, up from $9.54 billion a year ago, while exports fell to $1.18 billion from $1.27 billion.