A Comparative Analysis of Exports and Imports of ‘Protective Garments and the Like’ in India

Trading of ‘Protective Garments and the like’ in India

Abstract

Background: Procurement of COVID-19 related medical products was a chief concern for many countries to have uninterrupted health service delivery during pandemic. This necessitates to examine the changes in trade flows of COVID-19 related medical products across nations. Objectives: a) To Study the change in percentage share of exports and imports of the 'Protective garments and the like; b) To analyze the trends in exports and imports of 'Protective garments and the like' in India; c) To identify the top 10 trading countries of India of 'Protective garments and the like.' Methodology: Using the categorization by World Customs Organization and World Health Organization, monthly exports and imports data for the 'Protective garments and the like' was extracted from the portal of Indian Ministry of Commerce and Industry. The study time period pertains to pre- COVID (April 2019-March 2020) and during COVID (April 2020-March 2021) financial years. Compound Growth Rate was computed to analyse the trends in exports and imports of ‘protective garments and the like’ in India.  Microsoft Excel, 2019, and SPSS version 25 were used for all the statistical analysis. Findings: For exports, the compound annual growth rate of gloves, face and eye protection as well as protective garments showed a positive growth, whereas the same commodities registered a negative growth rate with respect to imports by India. Further, the top trading partners of India were United States and China with respect to ‘protective garments and the like’. Conclusion: The study witnessed an increase in the growth rate in exports and a negative growth rate in imports of the ‘Protective garments and the like’. By and large, India as an emerging economy could find new opportunities in the export market out of the crisis situation. The study recommends for the optimization and maximization in the production of COVID-19 related medical goods in order to meet the domestic and international demand