A recent study from the Ministry of Commerce says that India’s exports to as many as 115 of the 238 countries they went to in 2023–24, despite the unclear state of the world economy.
The US, UAE, Netherlands, China, UK, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Bangladesh, Germany, and Italy are some of the 115 countries that India sends its goods to. Together, they make up 46.5% of its total exports.
In the last fiscal year, the country’s exports of goods went down by 3% to $437.1 billion. Service exports, on the other hand, went up from $325.3 billion in 2022–23 to $341.1 billion in 2023–24.
The study says that even though world problems are still there, exports of both goods and services reached their highest level in 2022–23.
It took 0.23% longer for exports to hit $778.2 billion in 2023-24 than they did in 2022-23, when they were $776.4 billion.
Another small change is that India’s share of merchandise exports has gone up from 1.70% in 2014 to 1.82% in 2023. In the same time period, India’s position as a world leader in exporting goods has also moved up, from 19th to 17th.
On top of that, India’s exports to its top 10 markets grew by 13% year over year in 2023–24.
After a big 12.71 percent rise in export value to $35.6 billion, the UAE has become the main target.
Also, Indian exports to Singapore went up by 20.19 percent to $14.4 billion, to the UK they went up by 13.30 percent to USD 13 billion, and to China they went up by 8.70 percent to USD 16.7 billion. This shows that people are still buying Indian goods.
The data showed that countries like Russia (35.41% growth), Romania (138.84%), and Albania (234.97%) are exploring new markets.
“Strengthening trade relations with these nations could unlock untapped opportunities and bolster India’s overall export competitiveness,” a person said.
Shipments from the country to places like the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), Oceania, and Europe all grew in 2023-24 compared to 2022-23.
In the CIS region from 2023 to 2024, Russia, Uzbekistan, Ukraine, Armenia, and Tajikistan will be the top five export destinations.
In the same way, Australia, Timor Leste, Samoa, Vanuatu, and Solomon Island were the top five targets for Indian exports in Oceania during the last fiscal year.
Also, in Europe, the UK, Romania, Albania, the Netherlands, and Greece were the main places where Indian exports saw strong growth in 2023–24.
When it comes to goods, exports of up to 17 things have gone up since the last financial year (2023–24). There are 48.4% of India’s exports that come from these areas.
Engineering, electronics, medicines, and cotton yarn, linens, and handloom goods are some of these industries.
Some important areas, like petroleum goods (-13.66%) and gems and jewelry (-13.83%), saw big drops in sales during the last fiscal year.
The figures show that India’s imports from 229 source countries have gone down from 124 countries in 2023–24.
China, the United States, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Russia, and Switzerland are the top 10 source countries for India. Together, they make up 59.3% of India’s imports.
Imports from countries like the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, and Oman are going down, which shows that India needs to improve its trade ties, especially with GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) member states, a government source said.
“While some declines may stem from market dynamics or economic conditions, they also present opportunities for policy makers to reconsider trade strategies, prioritize domestic production, and foster indigenous industries,” he said.
On the other hand, India Exim Bank said on Thursday that India’s exports of goods would rise by 12.3% to $116.7 billion from April to June of this fiscal year.
“Positive growth in India’s exports could be as a result of India’s strong GDP growth fundamentals and outlook, sustained momentum in manufacturing and services sector, backed by expected global easing of monetary tightening spurring global demand, and to some extent due to base effect,” it said in a report.
It did say that the outlook is subject to risks, such as unclear futures for advanced countries, geopolitical shocks, the Middle East crisis making the Red Sea crisis worse, and more geo-economic fragmentation, among other things.
(With inputs from PTI)
