After steep import bill rejig, more robust trade data likely

Government officials assert revisions to trade data are made in line with international standards, with a new SOP in place.

A week after the Centre effected a dramatic $14.2 billion correction in India’s import bill for April to November 2024, top government officials asserted on Wednesday that revisions to trade data are made in line with international standards, and a standard operating procedure (SoP) has now been put in place to ensure more robust data.

Last Thursday, the Commerce Ministry had issued a communique stating these erroneous trade figures, largely driven by a flawed assessment of gold and silver imports, were thrown up due to double counting of certain imports into Special Economic Zones (SEZs), and announced an inter-departmental committee to spruce up trade data’s credibility.

“Let me assure you that now, we have created a very good SOP, and a committee is already there, which is looking into an SOP that will ensure there is a better coordination between the DGCIS [The Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics] and the DG (Systems) [in the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs],” Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal said.

“That committee is working. So now, you will always have this very robust data,” he added, stressing that by their nomenclature itself, quick estimates of monthly foreign trade released by the 15th of every subsequent month in line with global standards, are quick assessments that are amenable to revisions.

“We are also now working on creating a better data analytics system with the help of Artificial Intelligence (AI), and the project that can get launched at any point of time will give you much better insights into the trade data,” he averred.