International Trade

Trade between two countries through sea, air or land routes.
India’s contribution in the world trade is as low as 1% of the total volume.
In 1950-51 worth Rs. 1,214 crores, which rose to Rs. 44,29,762 crores in 2016-17
Export and import are the components of trade. balance of trade of a country is the difference between its export and import.
Favourable balance of trade - value of export exceeds the value of imports.
unfavourable balance of trade - value of imports exceeds the value of exports. (India in unfavourable balance of Trade)
India has emerged as a software giant at the international level and it is earning large foreign exchange through the export of information technology.

Changing Patterns of the Composition of India’s Export

Decline in traditional items is largely due to the tough international competition.
China and other East Asian countries are our major competitors.
Gems and jewellery contributes a larger share of India’s foreign trade.

Changing Patterns of the Composition of India’s Import

1950s and 1960s - foodgrain, capital goods, machinery and equipment.
After 1970s - success of Green revolution but the energy crisis of 1973, Foodgrain import was replaced by fertilisers and petroleum.
Import of food and allied products declined with a fall in imports of edible oils.
Other Import - Pearls and semi-precious stones, gold and silver, metalliferrous ores and metal scrap, non-ferrous metals, electronic goods, etc.

Direction of Trade

India aims to double its share in the international trade within the next five years.
Measures - import liberalisation, reduction in import duties, delicensing and change from process to product patents.
Most of India’s foreign trade through sea and air routes, small portion is also carried through land route, countries like Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Pakistan.

Sea Port as Gateway of International Trade

West coast has more ports than its east coast. Domestic, as well as, overseas trade
12 major ports and 200 minor or intermediate ports.
Major Ports - Central government decides the policy and plays regulatory functions.
Minor Port - Policy and functions are regulated by state governments.
Partition of the country snatched away two very important ports Karachi port went to Pakistan and Chittagong port to the erstwhile East-Pakistan and now Bangladesh.
Compensate the losses, Kandla in the west & Diamond Harbour near Kolkata on river Hugli in the east were developed.
Private Enterprises invited for modernisation of ports.
20 million tonnes of cargo handling in 1951 to More than 837 million tonnes in 2016.

Kandla Port

Head of Gulf of Kuchchh.
Developed as a major port to cater to the needs of western and north western parts of the country and also to reduce the pressure at Mumbai port.
petroleum and petroleum products and fertilizer, offshore terminal at Vadinar reduce the pressure at Kandla port.
Demarcation of the boundary of the Hinterland difficult, Hinterland of one port may overlap with that of the other.

Mumbai Port

Mumbai is a natural harbor.
General routes from the countries of Middle East, Mediterranean countries, North Africa, North America and Europe.
Port is 20 km long and 6-10 km wide with 54 berths and has the country’s largest oil terminal.
M.P., Maharashtra, Gujarat, U.P. and parts of Rajasthan constitute the main hinterlands of Mumbai ports.

Jawaharlal Nehru Port

Marmagao Port

New Mangalore Port

In Karnataka, Export of iron-ore and iron-concentrates, also handle fertilisers, petroleum products, edible oils, coffee, tea, wood pulp, yarn, granite stone, molasses, etc.
Karnataka is the major hinterland.

Kochchi Port

Kolkata Port

Hugli river, 128 km inland from the Bay of Bengal.
Hinterland covers U.P., Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Sikkim and the north-eastern states.
Extends ports facilities to Nepal and Bhutan
lost its significance to the other ports such as Vishakhapatnam, Paradwip and its satellite port, Haldia
Other problems - Silt accumulation in the Hugli river provide link to sea.

Haldia Port

105 km downstream from Kolkata.
Reduce the congestion at Kolkata port, Handles bulk cargo (iron ore, coal, petroleum, petroleum products and fertilisers, jute, jute products, cotton and cotton yarn, etc).

Paradwip Port

Visakhapatnam Port

Chennai Port

Ennore

Tuticorin Port

Relieve the pressure of Chennai port.
Cargo - coal, salt, food grains, edible oils, sugar, chemicals and petroleum products.

Airports

Important role in the international trade.
Very costly and unsuitable for carrying heavy and bulky commodities.
25 major airports functioning in the country (Annual Report 2016-17)
Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Goa, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai, Thiruvananthapuram, Srinagar, Jaipur, Calicut, Nagpur, Coimbatore, Cochin, Lucknow, Pune, Chandigarh, Mangaluru, Vishakhapatnam, Indore, Patna, Bhubaneswar and Kannur.

Tourism as a Trade

Grown substantially over last three decades.
More than 15 million people are directly engaged in the tourism industry.
Heritage tourism, eco-tourism, adventure tourism, cultural tourism, medical tourism and business tourism.
India ranked world’s 4^thbest holiday haven.

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