How we score opportunities
India's imports show markets that already exist inside the country. If buyers are paying for a product from abroad, a local maker who matches price, quality and delivery can win them. We score each product (4-digit HS code) from 0 to 100 using five factors.
| Factor | Weight | What it measures |
|---|---|---|
| Market size | 30% | How much India imported in the latest financial year (log scale, so very large lines don't swamp everything). |
| Growth | 25% | Average yearly growth over five years, ranked against all other products. |
| Consistency | 15% | Share of years in which imports grew. Steady growth beats one lucky year. |
| Supplier dependence | 15% | Share of the single biggest source country. Heavy dependence means supply risk for buyers and usually stronger policy support for local makers. |
| Ease of entry | 15% | Our editorial rating of capital and technical difficulty for a new business. |
Badges
- High opportunity: 62 and above
- Promising: 50 to 61
- Moderate: 38 to 49
- Low: below 38
What we leave out
Crude oil, coal, gold, diamonds, ores and special trade codes are imported because India lacks the raw material, not because nobody makes them here. They're shown for context but not ranked.
Limits of this data
- Import data shows demand, not profitability. Margins, competition from existing Indian makers and raw-material access need your own research.
- A 4-digit HS code can cover many different items. Look at 6- and 8-digit detail on TradeStat before choosing a specific product.
- Values are in ₹ crore at current prices, so part of the growth is inflation and currency movement.
Source: Department of Commerce, TradeStat (Export Import Data Bank), refreshed daily from the official site. Current data: 2017-2018 to 2025-2026.