New Delhi: With a 24% rise in imports, India’s February trade deficit almost doubled to $27 billion from $14.42 billion a year ago, even as exports fell 0.81% to $36.61 billion. The rise in imports was particularly led by gold and silver, reported Economic Times.Commerce secretary Rajesh Agrawal said that the year had been difficult and the situation is expected to stay that way in March owing to exporters being impacted by logistics bottlenecks due to the ongoing crisis in West Asia.“The escalating conflict in the Middle East involving the US, Israel and Iran has heightened global trade uncertainty. Disruptions in key maritime routes, including the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea have forced vessels to reroute, increasing freight costs, insurance premiums, and transit times, thereby adding pressure on exporters,” said SC Ralhan, president, Federation of Indian Export Organisations, reported Economic Times.Meanwhile, India’s trade deficit with China India’s trade deficit with China continued to increase and has gone past the $100 billion dollar mark, reflecting an increasing dependence on Chinese industrial supplies.The Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) said in a statement that while exports to China amounted $17.5 billion during April-February, the imports in this same period increased to $119.6 billion, leaving a $102.1 billion deficit.The GTRI said that this gap is expected to widen further to about $111.4 billion for the full year.“The imbalance reflects India’s reliance on Chinese components and industrial inputs, including electronics parts, electric-vehicle batteries and components, solar cells and modules, machinery, organic chemicals and pharmaceutical ingredients, which remain difficult to source domestically,” said the GTRI in is statement.Among overall imports, India’s fertilizer imports rose to $15.9 billion, recording a 64.5% jump and reflecting higher global prices and India’s dependence on imported agricultural inputs, said GTRI.Similarly gold imports rose to $66.9 billion, registering an increase of 28.7%, while silver imports surged 142.9% to $11.4 billion, driven partly by demand from electronics and solar industries, the GTRI stated.