India Identifies 100 Import-Heavy Products for Manufacturing Support in 2027-28 Budget

India's trade ministry has completed an exercise to identify 100 products, including intermediate goods and capital equipment, that it wants made in the country in larger volumes, and it plans to seek support measures for them in the Union Budget for 2027-28. The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, which sits under the Commerce and Industry Ministry, finished the review after consultations with other ministries and the private sector, an official said. The proposals are to be sent to the finance ministry ahead of the budget, which is expected to be presented on February 1.

What the List Covers

The selected goods span sectors such as auto components, chemicals and machinery, the official said. They are products that India either does not manufacture at all or makes in insufficient quantities. The aim, according to the official, is to expand domestic manufacturing for both local and export markets rather than simply to replace imports.

According to another account of the exercise, the department began by examining around 500 heavily imported products in June, including machinery, fertilizers, chemicals, cotton staple fiber, plastics, silicon wafers and carbon fibers, and set up six sector-specific working groups. High import dependence was defined as imports meeting 60 percent or more of domestic demand, while a medium rating applied where imports covered 30 to under 60 percent. The department has said it analyzed data on production capacity and on bottlenecks that companies face in making these goods locally.

The list is also reported to include full-face shield tunnel boring machines, walking excavators and specialized marine dredging items. Officials have pointed to the risks of relying on a single supplier, noting that export restrictions on critical minerals and, more recently, on heavy machinery and specialized capital goods have shown how quickly supply chains can be disrupted.

The Numbers Behind the Push

Commerce ministry data cited in the reports shows the scale of the import bill. Chemical imports rose 10.5 percent to 16.1 billion dollars in April to September 2026-27, while inbound shipments of dyeing, tanning and coloring materials climbed about 30 percent to 2.7 billion dollars in the same period. Imports of electrical and non-electrical machinery grew 15.5 percent to 34.1 billion dollars in the first half of the fiscal year, and transport equipment imports rose 9.21 percent to 18.21 billion dollars.

The support package could combine fiscal and non-fiscal measures, research and development assistance, trade and tariff steps, and stronger testing and certification infrastructure. The initiative would sit alongside existing programs, including production-linked incentives across 14 sectors, the PM GatiShakti infrastructure plan and the National Logistics Policy. Officials said the new focus falls on intermediate goods, specialized industrial inputs and capital equipment, areas that have drawn less targeted attention than finished products.

What It Means for Workers

For the industrial workforce, the proposals signal where hiring and skills demand may grow if the measures are funded. Building capacity in auto components, chemicals, machinery and capital goods would require technicians, machine operators, quality inspectors and production planners, as well as engineers able to set up and run new lines. Testing and certification plans point to demand for quality and compliance staff. The expansion of domestic manufacturing would also depend on suppliers of tooling, components and maintenance services, which typically add jobs at small and mid-sized firms.

The full list and the final support package have not been disclosed. Analysts will watch how much money the finance ministry allocates, whether tariff measures are included and how quickly capacity comes online. The budget date of February 1 is the next fixed point, with the department's recommendations due to reach the finance ministry before then.