Exports cross $200-bn mark in April-Feb, beat govt estimate

Maintaining a steady growth momentum, India’s merchandise exports touched $208.2 billion in the April-February period of the current financial year, already exceeding the government’s target of $200 billion for the entire financial year.

In February, exports rose 49.8 per cent to $23.60 billion, while imports rose to $31.70 billion, up 21.2 per cent over the same period last year. The trade deficit in February rose marginally to (-)8.1 billion from (-)8 billion in January.

“The balance of trade is expected to be somewhere between $105-115 billion for the financial year,” Commerce Secretary Rahul Khullar said, while releasing the initial estimates. The figures are subject to change once the official data is released on April 1.

Khullar also said exports for 2010-2011 would be in the range of $230-235 billion, while imports are expected to cross $350 billion.

“In exports, we can see that the basket is getting increasingly dominated by petroleum products, gems and jewellery, chemicals and engineering goods. In the next three to five years, India needs to capitalise on these sectors,” Khullar said.(Click here table & graph)

During April-February, 2010, exports of gems and jewellery, engineering products, petroleum, readymade garments, pharmaceuticals, plastics and carpets, fared well. Exports of engineering goods soared by a whopping 81 per cent to $52.7 billion in the April-February period. Carpet exports from India are set to surpass $1 billion for the first time, Khullar said.

Products which recorded a cumulative rise in imports in the first 11 months of the current financial year were oil, gems & jewellery, gold & silver, fertilisers, machinery, electronic goods, chemicals and coal.

“The current account deficit is going to be 2.5-2.8 per cent of GDP. A lot of it will depend on net services and remittances, which might be impacted due to the influx of workers from the Middle East (West Asia),” Khullar said. The government had recently raised serious concerns over the rising current account deficit.

The ministry of commerce and industry had floated a discussion paper which sought an effective mechanism to accelerate exports and raise their worth to $450 billion by 2014. The government had also offered a plethora of benefits to boost exports in Budget 2011-12, including a refund mechanism for service tax, creation of leather clusters across the country, reduction of duties, excise duty cut and a cut in transaction costs.