NEW DELHI, February 23: Imports of capital goods as well as those for setting up projects fell sharply in April-November 1997 over the previous corresponding period, indicating a demand slump in industry and consequently a dip in industrial growth.This, together with the decline in import of industrial raw materials such as non-ferrous metals, crude rubber, metalliferrous ores and metal scrap, pulled down the overall import in the above period to 6.57 per cent, according to the latest commodity-wise analysis of imports compiled by the commerce ministry.
The data shows that imports of project goods dropped by 37.94 per cent to $ 792.06 million from $ 1,276.31 million in April-November 1996. These goods have a weightage of 3.8 per cent in the index of industrial production.Among capital goods, machine tool imports fell from $ 327.29 million to $ 259.28 million and transport equipment from $ 616.58 million to $ 549.07 million.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
