India's Most Import/Exports

The current blog you are going to read is giving you information regarding the most traded goods in India via import/export. The data depicted are based on the exchange rate of the fiscal year 2019.

India imported US$480 billion worth of goods from around the globe in 2019, up by 22.8% since 2015 but down by -5.7% from 2018 to 2019.

Strategically located near highly populated trading partners including China, Pakistan and Bangladesh, the Republic of India shipped US$322.8 billion worth of goods around the globe in 2019. That dollar amount reflects a -0.4% reduction since 2015 but a 22.3% gain from 2018 to 2019.

Let's separately understand the values of exports and imports.

India’s Top Imports

The following product categories represent the highest dollar value in India’s import purchases during 2019. Also depicted is the percentage share each product category represents in terms of overall imports into India.

1. Mineral fuels including oil: US$153.5 billion (32% of total imports)
2. Gems, precious metals: $60 billion (12.5%)
3. Electrical machinery, equipment: $50.4 billion (10.5%)
4. Machinery including computers: $44.1 billion (9.2%)
5. Organic chemicals: $20.5 billion (4.3%)
6. Plastics, plastic articles: $14.6 billion (3.1%)
7. Iron, steel: $11.6 billion (2.4%)
8. Animal/vegetable fats, oils, waxes: $9.6 billion (2%)
9. Optical, technical, medical apparatus: $9.5 billion (2%)
10. Fertilizers: $7.3 billion (1.5%)

Imported fertilizers posted the fastest increase in value among India’s top 10 import categories, up 23.3% from 2018 to 2019. The other top category to gain was machinery including computers via a 1.6% improvement.

Leading the decliners were organic chemicals (down -9.3%), mineral fuels including oil (also down -9.3%) then gems and precious metals (down -7.8%).

India’s Top Exports

From a continental perspective, 47.62% of India’s exports by value were delivered to fellow Asian countries while 19.49% were sold to European importers. India shipped another 17.91% worth of goods to North America. Smaller percentages went to Africa (8.65%), Latin America excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean (2.95%), and Oceania led by Australia (1.1%).

The following export product groups categorize the highest dollar value in Indian global shipments during 2019. Also shown is the percentage share each export category represents in terms of overall exports from India.

1. Mineral fuels including oil: US$44.1 billion (13.7% of total exports)
2. Gems, precious metals: $36.7 billion (11.4%)
3. Machinery including computers: $21.2 billion (6.6%)
4. Organic chemicals: $18.3 billion (5.7%)
5. Vehicles: $17.2 billion (5.3%)
6. Pharmaceuticals: $16.1 billion (5%)
7. Electrical machinery, equipment: $14.7 billion (4.5%)
8. Iron, steel: $9.7 billion (3%)
9. Clothing, accessories (not knit or crochet): $8.6 billion (2.7%)
10. Knit or crochet clothing, accessories: $7.9 billion (2.5%)

Electrical machinery and equipment represents the fastest growing among the top 10 export categories, up 23.6% from 2018 to 2019. In second place for improving Indian export sales were pharmaceuticals which gained 12.5%.

Products in more demand for export from India-2019

In macroeconomic terms, India’s total exported goods represent 2.9% of its overall Gross Domestic Product for 2019. Some of the products gained huge demand, however some were ignored for the fact that they were lesser in demand than others.

Let's have a look at the products that saw huge change in value since 2018.

• Light vessels, fire boats, floating docks that saw a change of approximately +108.9% compared to 2018 with trade value approximately INR 32,484 Crores.
• Phone system devices including smartphones that saw a change of approximately +101.1% compared to 2018 with trade value approximately INR 31,252 Crores.
• Sugar (cane or beet) that saw a change of approximately +89.4% compared to 2018 with trade value approximately INR 13,378 Crores.
• Cruise/cargo ships, barges that saw a change of approximately +87.7% compared to 2018 with trade value approximately INR 8,051 Crores.
• Iron ores, concentrates that saw a change of approximately +75.4% compared to 2018 with trade value approximately INR 16,726 Crores.
• Electric motor parts that saw a change of approximately +41.2% compared to 2018 with trade value approximately INR 5,180 Crores.
• Essential oils that saw a change of approximately +40.1% compared to 2018 with trade value approximately INR 9,158 Crores.

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Budget Planning : How to?

You know what used to scare me? It's something that probably scares a lot of people who never learned how to start planning a budget.

Here it is:

Logging into my online banking account. Yep It scared me always. I used to spend a lot on recharges, movies without actually keeping track of how much have I spent and how much is actually available for my investments for the future or even emergency fund.

Why was I scared of this?

Because I never used to keep track of how much money I was spending (I also used to waste a lot of money on fast food).

But since establishing a budget, I know exactly what is going to be on my credit card bill each month and have no stress when logging into my online banking account.

I want you to feel the same way, stress-free.

What exactly is Budget?

Budget is a plan for your money. Simply, budget is the answer to all your financial expense tracking. Without a budget, you're going through each month blind and hoping you still have enough to pay rent at the end of the month. Having a budget will allow you to accomplish financial goals, eliminate debt, and have fun too! Yes, that's right you can still do fun things when you have a budget.

Think about this:

What if your laptop broke down tomorrow, would you have money to fix it?

What if you lost your job, would you have enough in the bank to pay rent while you find a new one?

What if you have no income source, like the one during coronavirus lockdown in the world, did you have an emergency fund to bear your running expenses?

So, how do you prepare?

Learn how to start a budget of course!

But first:

Why You Need to Start a Budget

Everyone will benefit in a different way from budgeting; some may just want to feel more in control of their finances, others may be doing it to eliminate their debt faster. If you're reading this you probably already have your reasons for starting a budget.

However, if you're still unsure of the benefits of budgeting, here are three big ones:

1. You'll be prepared for tough times – Life is a … you know the word. One of the best things you can do when you start budgeting is to establish an emergency fund. Car problems? Lockdown problem? Emergency problem? Not a problem because you've already prepared for all of it.
2. You'll accomplish your goals faster – Do you want to go to the Santorini or go for a vacation trip to Ladakh but you never seem to have the money to do so? Create a spot in your budget to start saving money each month until you reach your goal.
3. You'll never wonder where your money went – If you find yourself wondering where your money went or how your credit card bill is so high, with a budget, you will know the answers to those questions.

How to start? Here we go.

Step 1. Figure Out What Do You Make

Can't make a plan for your money if you don't know how much you have to work with.

If you have a fixed income (same amount every month), this will be easy for you, just add up your paychecks.

If you don't (commission based pay, tips, sales, etc.), try to estimate the minimum amount you make each month.

So here's an example:

Source	Income
Job	₹65,000
Rented property/vehicle	₹10,000
Freelance Writing	₹2,000
Total Income: ₹77,000

Step 2. Set Goals For Your Budget

This used to be one of the last steps in this budgeting guide, now it's one of the first.

Why?

Because this is one of the most important steps when starting a budget. It's one of the main reasons to start a budget in the first place.

To accomplish financial goals.

Your goal could be to save ₹1,00,000 for a trip to Santorini.

Try to come up with a mix of short-term (less than a year) and long-term goals (over a year) that you would like to accomplish financially. Doesn't matter how big or small just write them down.

Here are some examples to help you get started:

• Set up an emergency fund. An emergency fund can be a lifesaver when something unexpected happens like coronavirus lockdown. You should aim to make this emergency fund big enough to last 6 months to a year of unemployment.
• Pay off debt (if you have any).
• Save for retirement.
• Save up for something you've wanted for a long time, could be a vacation or a new TV (just because you're budgeting doesn't mean you can't have fun).
• Investments. Now that you're saving some money you can start making it work for you. We’d come up with some cool ideas for investment plans soon and share a link here.

After you come up with a couple goals you're happy with, move on to the next step.

Step 3. Add Up Your Fixed Expenses

Fixed expenses are the expenses that stay the same every month. This includes things like car EMI payments, rent, bills, etc. These expenses are not easily changed so you'll have a hard time finding savings here.

Example:

Expense	Cost
Car EMI	₹15,000
Rent	₹10,000
Total: ₹25,000

Now, Subtract Your Fixed Expenses From Your Monthly Income

Since our monthly income is ₹77,000, we're left with ₹52,000 after paying for our fixed expenses. We will call this ₹52,000 our true budget.

True Budget = Income – Fixed Expenses

Step 4. Figure Out Your Variable Expenses

Next thing you need to do is add up your variable expenses. These are the ones that change each month and include things like entertainment, dining out, clothes, credit card bills and all that fun stuff.

This is where you cut back and find savings if you need to.

How?

When you're looking through your bank account(s)/credit card bills and adding up your variable expenses, you'll find expenses that fit into two categories:

Needs and wants.

Your needs could be things like gas and groceries. You can find some savings here if you really need to.

Your wants could be things like a music subscription, dining out, and Netflix, etc. You can find more savings here, you just have to make some sacrifices. For example, if you dine out a lot, try cooking at home more.

Here's an example of variable expenses:

Expense	Cost
Gas	₹2,000
Groceries	₹7,000
Dining Out	₹5,000
Movies	₹2,000
Total: ₹16,000

Step 4b. Subtract Your Variable Expenses From Your True Budget

So after adding our variable expenses and subtracting them from our true budget, we're left with ₹36,000 extra to put towards our goals. If you have a lot of extra money like this, great job! This means you're already doing a good job managing your money. Continue to the next step.

If you are breaking even you've got enough money to survive, but nothing to put towards goals. You may want to take a look at your variable expenses and try to adjust so you have some extra income for the next step.

If you have a negative number, then you're losing money every month which is unsustainable. Adjust your budget for your variable expenses or try to increase your income.

Step 5. Distribute the Rest

In step 2 we made financial goals, now it's time to distribute our extra income into those goals.

You want to make sure each and every rupee you make has a purpose, so try to use up every penny left in your budget!

Example:

Goal	Monthly Contribution
Retirement	₹7,000
Pay off debt	₹10,000
Save for vacation	₹7,000
Invest	₹5,000
Emergency Fund	₹7,000
Total: ₹36,000

We've now assigned every penny in our budget a job. Things will obviously fluctuate as life is full of many surprises, but at least we have a general plan for our money.

Conclusion

Congratulations! Now that you know how to start a budget there's nothing to stop you from starting your own.

The truth is, learning how to start a budget is the easiest part of budgeting. ACTUALLY taking action and doing what it takes to start your budget and stick with your budget is the hard part.