India’s Apr-Jun quarter exports cross USD 200 bn, government optimistic of reaching USD 800 bn annual target

As India’s exports in the first quarter of 2024-25 (April-June) crossed the USD 200 billion mark, the government has expressed its optimism about reaching its full-year target of USD 800 billion.

“We are quite optimistic and it gives us optimism that we’d be crossing our USD 800 billion of trade this year,” Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal said on Monday while releasing India’s trade data for June.

India’s overall exports, merchandise and services combined in the month of June were to the tune of USD 65.47 billion, a 5.4 rise on a yearly basis, commerce ministry data showed. Same month last year it was at USD 62.12 billion.

In break up, exports of merchandise goods rose from USD 34.32 billion to USD 35.20 billion, and exports of services rose from USD 27.79 to USD 30.27 billion.

In May, merchandise and services exports combined were to the tune of USD 68.29 billion, a 10.2 rise on a yearly basis.

The country’s imports too increased year-on-year in June, data showed today. The same was the case in May.

The overall imports, both merchandise and services combined, increased from USD 69.12 billion to USD 73.47 billion, a rise of about 6.3 per cent, in June.

In the recently concluded financial year 2023-24, India registered record exports at USD 778 billion. In 2022-23, the country exported goods and services combined at USD 776.3 billion.

In break up, services exports rose from USD 325.3 billion to USD 341.1 billion in 2023-24. Merchandise exports though marginally declined from USD 451.1 billion to USD 437.1 billion.

Among various steps the government took was to launch a Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme in varied sectors, including electronic goods, to make Indian manufacturers globally competitive, attract investments, enhance exports, integrate India into the global supply chain and reduce dependency on imports. These seemed to have reaped dividends.

China, Russia, Iraq, UAE, and Singapore were among the countries where India’s exports in the just-concluded financial year have risen substantially, though with a low base. The other countries in the Top 10 list are the UK, Australia, Saudi Arabia, the Netherlands, and South Africa.

Overall imports, they declined from USD 898.0 billion in 2022-23 to USD 853.8 billion. Both merchandise and services exports declined during the financial year.

Overall trade deficit significantly improved from USD 121.6 billion in 2022-23 to USD 75.6 billion in 2023-24.