Import substitution to duty hikes: India plans to hit China hard on economic front

New Delhi, June 19: Hitting China economically is a top priority for India. The Indian government is readying several moves to hit China on the economic front and these include import substitution to duty hikes.

The government is now in the process of shortlisting several items for import substitution.

These items could include toys from China and electronic goods. This also gels well with India's new strategy of self reliance, officials tell OneIndia.

The move also comes in the wake of the violent skirmish that took place in the Galwan Valley in which 20 soldiers were martyred.

New Delhi is also thinking of an import hike on 100 major imports from China. On Tuesday, the Department of Telecommunications had told BSNL not to use China-based firms' equipment in its network. The Railways on Thursday cancelled a China firm's contract.

On the cancellation, the Railways said that this was because of the inability of the company to complete the project. However, it came close on the heels of the Galwan Valley clash.

In 2016, the Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India, a company of the Indian Railways had asked the company to build freight corridors. The Chinese company National Railway Research and Design Institute of Signal and Communication Group Limited was awarded a Rs 471 crore contract.

India's major imports from China include electrical machinery, organic chemicals, fertilisers, nuclear reactors, chemical products, iron and steel and auto components. In 2018-19, 60 per cent of Indian's total of electrical machinery came from China. Fertilisers and organic chemical imports stood at 60 per cent, while in the case of plastic it was 82 per cent.