New Delhi: Government on Wednesday said it is "conscious" of widening trade deficit with China which has touched USD 12.6 billion in the first four months of the current fiscal itself.
India's imports from China in fiscal 2010-11 were USD 20 billion more than its exports to the neighbouring country, Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma said in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha.
China accounts for 11.5 percent of India's total imports, he said. In the last financial year, imports from China were USD 39.8 billion, whereas exports were far less at USD 19.4 billion. India's total imports in 2010-11 were USD 346.9 billion. The country's overall trade gap was USD 94.6 billion in the last fiscal.
"Government has been taking initiatives to make Indian industry globally competitive so that trade and current account deficits are maintained at sustainable levels," Sharma said.
In a related reply, Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Jyotiraditya Scindia said, "With a view to reducing trade deficit (with China), efforts are being made to diversify the trade basket with emphasis on manufactured goods. We are also pursuing market access issues to tackle non-tariff barriers in the Chinese market".
The India-China Strategic Economic Dialogue (SED) which looks beyond the bilateral issues, recently met and Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia chaired the meeting from the Indian side.
