India's Oct exports drop 17.5 pct year-on-year - govt

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's merchandise exports shrank 17.53 percent in October from a year ago to $21.35 billion, government data showed on Monday, on weak global demand.

The trade deficit marginally narrowed to $9.77 billion last month from $10.48 billion in September, the data released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry showed.

Imports fell 21.15 percent from a year earlier to $31.12 billion, the data showed.

(Reporting by Aditya Kalra; Editing by Malini Menon)