January exports rise 11.5%

The country’s merchandise exports rose for the third straight month to $14.34 billion (Rs 65,856.45 crore) in January, up 11.5 per cent from $12.86 billion (Rs 59,059.55 crore) in the same month last year. Imports also surged during the period by 35.5 per cent to $24.70 billion (Rs 1,13,434.75 crore), against $18.22 billion (Rs 83,675.35 crore), expanding the trade deficit to $10.36 billion (Rs 47,578.30 crore).

Cumulatively exports still continue to be in red. During the April-January 2009-10 period, exports declined by 17.8 per cent to $131.93 billion (Rs 6,05,888.52 crore) from $160.43 billion (Rs 7,36,774.77 crore) in the same period last year, official data released today indicated.

During January 2010, oil imports rose by 56 per cent to $7 billion from $4.52 billion in the same month last year. Cumulatively, oil imports decelerated by 25.3 per cent and stood at $64 billion from $85.62 billion in the corresponding period of last year, as did the total imports, which, at $218.53 billion, fell 19.7 per cent. Non-oil imports in January also grew by 29 per cent year on year to $176.52 billion from $137 billion in 2008-09, while cumulatively registered a decline of 17.1 per cent at $154 billion from $186.41 billion.

Exporters said, even as demand was reviving in the developed markets for Indian goods, clients overseas continued to remain cautious and were not placing large-scale orders.

“Exporters are now increasingly looking at diversifying their products while exploring newer markets, as growth from the traditional markets, such as the US and EU, have become stagnant in terms of demand. Unless the process of recovery stabilises there, things will not look positive,” said Ajay Sahai of Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO).

FIEO has also written to the ministries of finance and commerce to expand the interest subvention scheme to other sectors like readymade garments, leather, marine products and gems and jewellery.