India's exports to US dip 11.93 pc, imports up 11.78 pc in Sep
New Delhi (PTI): India's merchandise exports to the US declined by 11.93 per cent to USD 5.46 billion in September due to the high tariffs imposed by Washington while imports increased by 11.78 per cent to USD 3.98 billion during the month, according to the commerce ministry data.
During the April-September period of this fiscal, the country's exports to the US increased by 13.37 per cent to USD 45.82 billion, while imports rose 9 per cent to USD 25.6 billion, the data showed.
The US has imposed a sweeping 50 per cent tariffs on Indian goods entering American markets from August 27. The two countries are negotiating a bilateral trade agreement to boost two way commerce. The Indian team is in Washington for the trade talks.
According to think tank GTRI, shipments to the United States plunged in September, down 17.9 per cent from USD 6.87 billion in August, the sharpest monthly fall of 2025 and the fourth consecutive decline.
"September was also the first full month in which Indian goods faced Washington's 50 per cent tariff on most products," GTRI Founder Ajay Srivastava said. Exports to the US have been falling since June 2025 on a monthly basis. In May, exports rose by 4.8 per cent to USD 8.8 billion, marking the last month of growth before the duties took hold.
He added that between May and September, India's exports to the US have dropped by almost 37.5 per cent, wiping out more than USD 3.3 billion in monthly shipment value.
"The data confirm that the United States has become India's most severely affected market since the tariff escalation began, with sectors such as textiles, gems and jewellery, engineering goods, and chemicals suffering the heaviest losses," Srivastava said.
India and the US are negotiating a bilateral trade agreement.
China, another major trading partner of India, saw a 34.18 per cent jump in exports from India to USD 1.46 billion in September and a 21.96 per cent growth in April-September 2025-26 to USD 8.41 billion.
Imports from the neighbouring country in September rose 16.35 per cent to USD 11.31 billion while during the first half of this fiscal, shipments rose by 11.25 per cent to USD 62.88 billion.
The UAE, the UK, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Australia, Bangladesh, Brazil, and Italy were also among the countries, which saw positive growth in exports from India during the month under review.
However, exports to the Netherlands, Singapore, and France declined in September.
On the imports front, inbound shipments in September declined from nations, including Russia, Korea, Australia, Vietnam, Germany, and Taiwan.
However, imports rose from the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Japan, Malaysia, the UK and Thailand.
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Single higher education regulator bill tabled in LS; Oppn flags ‘centralisation,' JPC likely
New Delhi: A bill to set up a 13-member body to regulate institutions of higher education was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Monday.
Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan introduced the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, which seeks to establish an overarching higher education commission along with three councils for regulation, accreditation, and ensuring academic standards for universities and higher education institutions in India.
Meanwhile, the move drew strong opposition, with members warning that it could weaken institutional autonomy and result in excessive centralisation of higher education in India.
The Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, 2025, earlier known as the Higher Education Council of India (HECI) Bill, has been introduced in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
The proposed legislation seeks to merge three existing regulatory bodies, the University Grants Commission (UGC), the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), and the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE), into a single unified body called the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan.
At present, the UGC regulates non-technical higher education institutions, the AICTE oversees technical education, and the NCTE governs teacher education in India.
Under the proposed framework, the new commission will function through three separate councils responsible for regulation, accreditation, and the maintenance of academic standards across universities and higher education institutions in the country.
According to the Bill, the present challenges faced by higher educational institutions due to the multiplicity of regulators having non-harmonised regulatory approval protocols will be done away with.
The higher education commission, which will be headed by a chairperson appointed by the President of India, will cover all central universities and colleges under it, institutes of national importance functioning under the administrative purview of the Ministry of Education, including IITs, NITs, IISc, IISERs, IIMs, and IIITs.
At present, IITs and IIMs are not regulated by the University Grants Commission (UGC).
Government to refer bill to JPC; Oppn slams it
The government has expressed its willingness to refer it to a joint committee after several members of the Lok Sabha expressed strong opposition to the Bill, stating that they were not given time to study its provisions.
Responding to the opposition, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said the government intends to refer the Bill to a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) for detailed examination.
Congress Lok Sabha MP Manish Tewari warned that the Bill could result in “excessive centralisation” of higher education. He argued that the proposed law violates the constitutional division of legislative powers between the Union and the states.
According to him, the Bill goes beyond setting academic standards and intrudes into areas such as administration, affiliation, and the establishment and closure of university campuses. These matters, he said, fall under Entry 25 of the Concurrent List and Entry 32 of the State List, which cover the incorporation and regulation of state universities.
Tewari further stated that the Bill suffers from “excessive delegation of legislative power” to the proposed commission. He pointed out that crucial aspects such as accreditation frameworks, degree-granting powers, penalties, institutional autonomy, and even the supersession of institutions are left to be decided through rules, regulations, and executive directions. He argued that this amounts to a violation of established constitutional principles governing delegated legislation.
Under the Bill, the regulatory council will have the power to impose heavy penalties on higher education institutions for violating provisions of the Act or related rules. Penalties range from ₹10 lakh to ₹75 lakh for repeated violations, while establishing an institution without approval from the commission or the state government could attract a fine of up to ₹2 crore.
Concerns were also raised by members from southern states over the Hindi nomenclature of the Bill. N.K. Premachandran, an MP from the Revolutionary Socialist Party representing Kollam in Kerala, said even the name of the Bill was difficult to pronounce.
He pointed out that under Article 348 of the Constitution, the text of any Bill introduced in Parliament must be in English unless Parliament decides otherwise.
DMK MP T.M. Selvaganapathy also criticised the government for naming laws and schemes only in Hindi. He said the Constitution clearly mandates that the nomenclature of a Bill should be in English so that citizens across the country can understand its intent.
Congress MP S. Jothimani from Tamil Nadu’s Karur constituency described the Bill as another attempt to impose Hindi and termed it “an attack on federalism.”
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