Imports of sensitive items, including pulses and edible oils, went up by 42.2 per cent to Rs 40,281 crore (Rs 402.81 billion) in the April-August period this year.
India's imports of sensitive items stood at Rs 28,317 crore (Rs 283.17 billion) in the year-ago period.
Import of pluses soared to Rs 3,342.95 crore (Rs 33.42 billion) during the period from Rs 3,280 crore (Rs 32.8 billion) in April-August 2010, a Commerce Ministry official said.
India is a net importer of pulses. Items such as foodgrains, automobiles, milk and beverages fall in the sensitive category and the import of these goods is monitored by the government to see if there is any adverse impact on the domestic industry.
Imports of edible oils rose by 66 per cent to Rs 18,243.88 crore (Rs 182.43 billion) in April-August 2011, from Rs 10,998.28 crore (Rs 109.98 billion) in the year-ago period. India is the world's largest importer of edible oil and one of the largest consumer.
"The increase in edible oil import is mainly due to substantial increase in import of crude palm oil and its fractions," the official added.
During the first five months of the current fiscal, the import of items such as alcoholic beverages and spices also increased by 47.5 per cent and 68.3
Imports of products of small-scale industries such as umbrellas, locks, toys and glassware went up by 48.6 per cent to Rs 839.84 crore (Rs 8.39 billion), compared to the year-ago period.
Automobile imports jumped by 103.5 per cent in April-August 2011, to Rs 1606.5 crore (Rs 16.06 billion) from Rs 789.67 crore (Rs 7.89 billion) in the same period last year.
However, imports of foodgrain, milk and milk products, and tea and coffee contracted by 93.4 per cent, 28.4 per cent, and 10.2 per cent, respectively.
Milk and dairy product imports declined to Rs 282.9 crore (Rs 2.82 billion) in the review period from Rs 395 crore (Rs 3.95 billion) in April-August 2010.
The official did not comment on the reason behind the contraction. Import of sensitive items accounted for 4.8 per cent of the country's total imports during the period.
Gross imports of all commodities in April-August 2011, stood at Rs 8,47,987.07 crore (Rs 8,479.87 billion), an increase of 36.5 per cent from Rs 6,21,089.45 crore (Rs 6210.89 billion) in April-August 2010.
Imports of sensitive items from Indonesia, China, Malaysia, Germany, the US, Canada, Japan, Thailand, the UK and Italy have gone up, while those from Myanmar and Australia have gone down.
