Signs of hope on the export front

Twenty of the 30 major product groups were in positive territory for March, most of these showing impressive growth

Last Monday, the good news came that export in March at $32.55 billion was 11 per cent higher as compared to the $29.3 billion in March 2018. For 2018-19, the cumulative value was $331 billion, as against $303.5 billion during 2017-18, an encouraging growth of 9.1 per cent.

No doubt, these fell short of the commerce ministry’s FY18-19 target of $350 billion. And, meagre growth over the FY13-14 export of $313 billion – just about 1.15 per cent annual growth in the past five years. The share of merchandise export in Gross Domestic Product has also fallen from a high of