Merchandise exports grow at a slower pace in January, touch $34 billion

India’s exports grew at a slower pace in January, recording the highest ever monthly outbound shipments of goods in December, preliminary data released by the commerce and industry ministry showed.

However, consignment values remained above the $30 billion mark despite a rise in Omicron cases across the globe. Merchandise exports witnessed nearly 23.69 per cent growth on yearat $34.06 billion in January, as demand for Indian products continued to remain robust.

On a sequential basis, outbound shipments fell 8.6 per cent.

Engineering goods, petroleum products, gems and jewellery, organic and inorganic chemicals, drugs and pharmaceuticals, continued to remain top exported goods.

On a cumulative basis, India’s merchandise exports in April-January was $335.44 billion, inching rapidly towards meeting the annual exports target of $400 billion in FY22.

India’s merchandise imports also witnessed a sharp jump with shipments worth $52.01 billion coming into the country, up 23.74 per cent compared to the year-ago period. As a result, India was a net importer, with a trade deficit of $17.94 billion, compared to a deficit of $14.49 billion last year.

“Reaching $335.44 billion with a very high growth of 46.53 percent compared to the same period previous fiscal is commendable in itself further re-invigorating fresh impetus among the exporters of crossing the USD 400 billion exports target for the fiscal,” A Sakthivel, president, Federation of Indian Export Organisations said.