India’s latest budget, tabled in Parliament on 1 February, came with a fresh set of tariff hikes. Coming after months of the ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ push, the hikes inevitably lent steam to India’s increasingly protectionist image. A sectoral analysis shows that the electronics goods sector, which depends heavily on China, continued to be among the biggest targets of India’s tariffs this year.
Effective 2 February, the government raised duties on about 1,250 of the 10,400-odd items on India’s customs list. These items made up $75.8 billion worth of imports in 2019-20, a Mint analysis shows. The extent is lower than the 2020 budget, when nearly 1,600 items saw raised duties, but it was not enough to change the look-inwards perception India is fast developing in global trade.
Source : Live Mint
