India’s export performance in the first quarter of the fiscal year 2024-25 has shown robust growth, crossing the USD 200 billion milestone and setting an optimistic tone for achieving the full-year target of USD 800 billion, according to Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal.
“We are quite optimistic that we’d be crossing our USD 800 billion trade target this year,” Barthwal said when he showed India’s trade numbers for June.
India’s exports of goods and services together hit $65.47 billion in June going up 5.4% from $62.12 billion in the same month last year. This growth comes after a good showing in May when exports reached $68.29 billion up 10.2% from the year before.
Exports of goods went up from $34.32 billion to $35.20 billion in June, while exports of services jumped from $27.79 billion to $30.27 billion in the same time.
However, the month of June witnessed a leap in the imports that went from $69.12 billion to $73.47 billion as compared to last year. This shows that people in the country still want to consume goods from the international markets.
Looking back at last year’s numbers, India sold a ton of goods to other countries reaching $778 billion in 2023-24. That is even more than $776.3 billion which was noted in the previous year. India made a lot more money from selling services hitting $341.1 billion. But they didn’t do as well with selling physical goods, which dropped a bit to $437.1 billion.
The government’s plans, like the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) program in different areas, including electronics, have had a big impact on making exports more competitive. These steps tried to bring in capital, get India into worldwide supply chains, and cut down on imports.
Key export destinations in the last fiscal year included China, Russia, Iraq, UAE, and Singapore, demonstrating substantial growth despite starting from a lower base. The UK, Australia, Saudi Arabia, the Netherlands, and South Africa also featured prominently in India’s top export markets.
India’s trade gap got way better dropping from $121.6 billion in 2022-23 to $75.6 billion in 2023-24. This shows exports and imports are more balanced now.
The upcoming months will be crucial as India continues to leverage its export potential, buoyed by ongoing policy measures and global economic recovery efforts.
