India's exports may fall short by $30-32 bn in 2014-15

Slowdown in manufacturing, softening of metal and commodity prices and declining competitiveness of domestic goods in international markets trigger the fall

India's exports may again miss the target in 2014-15 and be in the range of $308-310 billion as against the target of $340 billion, a senior Commerce Ministry official has said.

In 2013-14, the country's total merchandise shipments stood at $312.35 billion as against the target of $325 billion.

During April-February 2014-15, it grew by a merger 0.88% at $286.58 billion as against $284.07 billion over the same period previous year.

"Export target will be missed. It will be in the range of $308 billion to $310 billion," the official told PTI.

The reasons for decline in exports include slowdown in manufacturing, softening of metal and commodity prices and declining competitiveness of domestic goods in international markets, an industry expert said.

"There is an urgent need to nurture India's exports. Lakhs of jobs are at stake. During the last four years, India's exports are hovering at around $300 billion, we need to come out from that," former FIEO (Federation of Indian Export Organisations) president Rafeeq Ahmed said.

In 2012-13 too, India's exports aggregated at $300.6 billion as against the target of $360 billion.

The government is taking several steps to boost the country's exports.

Recently, it had announced incentives in the new five-year Foreign Trade Policy.

With an aim to nearly double the country's goods and services exports to $900 billion by 2019-2020, the Commerce Ministry has incorporated various incentive schemes such as Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS) and Services Exports from India Scheme (SEIS) to boost outward shipments.

The new FTP provides higher level of incentives for export of agriculture products besides announcing setting up of an Export Promotion Mission to provide an institutional framework to work with state governments to boost exports.