India should aim to increase its merchandise exports to $300 billion by 2014 and adopt a multi-pronged strategy to accelerate competitiveness of domestic goods in global markets, Assocham said.
The numbers for merchandise exports and imports for February, released on Wednesday, show that in US dollar terms exports declined by 21.7 per cent from February 2008, the sharpest year-on-year decline yet. It is cold comfort that this is modest, when compared to the declines witnessed in the exports of some other Asian countries.
A dip in petroleum product exports for the first time in the current fiscal has contributed to a 22 per cent decline in merchandise exports in January, commerce ministry data reveals.
India’s merchandise exports dipped for the second consecutive month, as the ongoing global recession shaved off demand from key markets like US and Europe.
Merchandise exports from India are likely to remain robust during the rest of the year, even as key markets in the United States and European Union (EU) face an economic slowdown.
India’s trade deficit widened to $10.79 billion in July, up 83 per cent from $5.87 billion in the year-ago month, as the growth in imports far outstripped exports.
Indian merchandise exports are expected to register an increase of over 23 per cent in June, at around $14.7 billion, against nearly $11.9 billion in the same month last year, sources told Business
India's merchandise exports in April 2008 stood at $14.4 billion, which is an increase of 31.5 per cent over $ 10.95 billion seen in the same month of the previous year.
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