Exports to see steady growth, exceed last year's figure: Nirmala Sitharaman

During the April-October period of the current financial year, exports dipped by 0.17% to $154.91 billion

With exports showing signs of revival, Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has expressed hope that outbound shipments will see a steady growth in coming months and exceed last year's figures.

"Many sectors are showing revival including petroleum based. So definitely, I can see a ray of hope that now it is going to be steady," Sitharaman told PTI in an interview.

When asked whether the export numbers would exceed last year's level, she said: "Yes, because that (last year) was really dipping every month and now its picking up. In June, there was small growth, but 9.59% in October is not a small figure. I hope we are able to keep that kind of a pace."

During the April-October period of the current financial year (FY), exports dipped by 0.17% to $154.91 billion. In 2015-16, the shipments stood at $262.29 billion.

Exporters' body, Federation of Indian Export Organisations, has said that exports may touch over $280 billion this FY.

The minister further said that exporters are making best efforts to be competitive in the global markets, ensuring that the currency fluctuations do not affect and also exploring newer markets.

"We are hand holding them," she added.

Talking about the demand situation in the international markets, Sitharaman said that demand revival probably is "patchy".

However, some signs of demand revival are there in economies which are giving some kind of impetus, she said adding that with increasing cost of labour in China, people see that India stands out in terms of competitiveness.

"That may not be applicable for all sectors but considerably we are able to stand out even in this depressed demand global environment," Sitharaman said.

A strong show by engineering, petroleum and gems & jewellery sectors pushed up exports for the second month in October by 9.59%.

Exports of engineering products rose by 13.86%, gems and jewellery by 21.84%, petroleum by 7.24% and chemicals by 6.65% during the month.

From December 2014, exports had fallen for 18 straight months till May 2016 due to weak global demand and slide in oil prices. Shipments witnessed growth only in June this year then entered again into negative zone in July and August.