Engineering exports down 26% in April

India's engineering exports dropped 26 per cent in April as orders from the US and European markets dried up in the wake of the global recession.

The engineering exports in the first month of 2009-10 plunged to $2.78 billion from $3.8 billion in the same month a year ago, according to the Engineering Export Promotion Council (EEPC).

However, the decline in April was not as sharp as in March, when the exports contracted by 34 per cent over the same period last year.

"We were expecting a downfall... We had orders till March. The engineering exports have a long gestation period for execution. We have very few new orders," EEPC Chairman Aman Chadha told PTI.

Seeking fiscal stimulus in the Budget, Chadha said, in the absence of sops, the export scenario would get worse.

"We feel that even if we attain the 2008-09 level of $37.85 billion, it would be considered as an achievement."

The engineering sector, which depends on the US and European markets for over 40 per cent of its revenue, could manage 13 per cent growth in the previous fiscal thanks to robust growth of 42 per cent in the first half of 2008-09.

India's overall exports have been contracting from the last seven months. Besides engineering, other sectors like textile, gems and jewellery, handicrafts and leather have been worst hit.