Gujarat BoardEnglish MediumSTD 12 CommerceEconomicsFOREIGN TRADE3 Marks
Question
How has our pattern of import changed over years?
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Answer
$(A)$ Pattern $($direction$)$ of import:
Our trade relations with England developed quite strong after the British started ruling India. This tradition continued even after independence. In $1960-61, 19\%$ of our total merchandise imports were from England. However, the situation changed $2007$ wherein India imported less than $2\%$ things from England. After independence, we were quite dependent on America for our imports. In $1960-61,$ our imports from $USA$ constituted $29\%$ of our total merchandise imports. This fell to less than $8\%$ after $2007.$
With time, Indian industries started developing. So, we were in heavy need of petroleum-based products. As a result, our merchandise imports from $OPEC$ i.e. Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries increased.
India had friendly relations with Russia and our imports from Russia were high after independence. This declined since 1980s after the economic crisis in Russia.
Over, time our trade with traditional partners started declining gradually and started increasing with other developing countries, especially with developing countries of East Asia, Central Asia and Africa.
Our imports from other developing countries were about $11.8\%$ of our total merchandise imports in $1960-61.$ This increased to $32\%$ in $2007-08$ and further to $59\%$ in $2014-15.$
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