India's exports may fall to $265-270 billion in FY16, says FIEO

The country's exports will range between $265-270 billion in 2015-16, sharply lower than the $310.5 billion achieved in the previous fiscal, exporters' body FIEO said today.

"According to our assessment exports for the current fiscal will range between $265-270 billion. If this trend continues it may lead to job losses," FIEO Director General Ajay Sahai told PTI.

Exports contracted for the thirteenth month in a row in December 2015 as outward shipments shrank 14.75% to $22.2 billion amid a global demand slowdown.

Sahai demanded that the corpus of the exports development fund which currently stands at Rs 200 crore should be enhanced to Rs 3,000-5,000 crore as it was inadequate.

"The export development fund which currently has a corpus of Rs 200 crore is inadequate and should be enhanced to 0.5 to 1% of export value which is anywhere between Rs 3,000 to Rs 5,000 crore. Commerce Ministry has supported this demand. We are now awaiting a response from the Finance Ministry," he said.

During April-December period of the current fiscal, exports dipped 18% to $196.6 billion as compared to $239.9 billion in the same period of the previous fiscal, according to the data released by the Commerce Ministry.

Besides, FIEO today signed an agreement with TUV Rheinland India Pvt Ltd, a group company of TUV Rheinland, Germany to support its members in better understanding the requirements related to standardisation, conformity assessment, product & consumer safety, etc.