India's exports fall almost 35% in March, drop 4.78% in FY20

India's exports declined by 34.57 per cent to $21.41 billion in March, as they fell by 4.78 per cent to $314.31 billion for 2019-20.

Trade deficit narrowed to $9.76 billion in march this year from $11 billion in the same month last year. It was $152.88 billion in April-March 2019-20 compared to $184 billion in the previous fiscal.

"The decline in exports has been mainly due to the ongoing global slowdown, which got aggravated due to the current Covid-19 crisis. The latter resulted in large scale disruptions in supply chains and demand resulting in cancellation of orders," the commerce ministry said in statement.

Imports in March dipped by 28.72 per cent to $31.16 billion. It contracted by 9.12 per cent to $467.19 billion in 2019-20.

India's overall exports, including goods and services combined, in April-March 2019-20 are estimated to be at $528.45 billion, showing a negative growth of 1.36 per cent over the same period last year, it said.