Sharp Decline In Tea, Leather & Gem Exports

Ministry sources said a virtual halt of Russian buying in the last three months have pushed down tea exports.

Leather exports have fallen from $ 414 million to $ 351 million. This is largely on account of the closure of a number of tanneries in Kanpur and Madras.

The record of marine products, too, have been giving cause for concern, especially in the wake of US ban on shrimps.

The United States actions has forced the commerce ministry to closely monitor marine exports.

While engineering exports have been growing at a reasonable pace, machinery have been showing a substantial decline, sources said.

 

While the latest disaggregated data is not available, the data for April-June shows that marine exports have gone up from $ 200 million in April-June 1995-96 to $ 221 million in the same period in 1996-97. This is way below the ministry