Distribution of taxation power clarifies legislative competence and legal limits on taxation authority under the constitution.
The constitutionally mandated distribution of taxing power allocates legislative competence among Parliament and State Legislatures via the Union, State and Concurrent Lists in the Seventh Schedule, with specific tax subjects assigned to each List. The principle that taxes may be levied only by authority of law imposes a legal prerequisite on tax imposition. Amendments changing fiscal allocations or the Lists require the constitutional amendment procedure with additional state ratification for specified categories.

Import of sensitive items rose significantly, increasing their share of gross imports and driven by edible oil imports.
Import of sensitive items rose by 34.5% in April-July 2009, increasing their share of gross imports from 2.7% to 4.7%. Automobiles, small-scale industry products and alcoholic beverages declined, whereas edible oil, pulses, fruits and vegetables, cotton and silk, rubber, spices, marble and granite, milk products, tea and coffee and food grains increased. Edible oil imports surged, driven mainly by higher crude palm oil and its fractions. Imports rose from suppliers such as Indonesia, Myanmar, the United States and Malaysia, and fell from China, Korea, Japan, Germany and the Czech Republic.