India’s overall (merchandise and services) exports during April-November of 2020 were worth $304.53 billion, higher than the overall imports of $293.56 billion, resulting in a trade surplus of $10.97 billion for the period, Minister of State in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Hardeep Singh Puri, informed the Rajya Sabha on February 5.
The overall exports of India also grew by 5.4 per cent equivalent to $1.4 billion in January 2021 year-over-year (YoY), said the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
The highest growth in exports has been observed in the engineering goods which is 18.7 per cent YoY amounting to $1.2 billion. The export of engineering goods to South Africa increased by 550 per cent YoY ($489.9 million) while the export for such goods to the United States increased by 16.3 per cent YoY ($160.7 million).
The surge in the export of drugs and pharmaceutical products was of 16.4 per cent YoY amounting to $292.6 million. The increase in export of pharma products to South Africa is of 67.9 per cent YoY ($33.1 million).
According to the Commerce Ministry, iron ore surged exponentially by 108.7 per cent YoY which is an increase of $274.6 million.
When it comes to overall imports, there has been an increase of $842 million during January 2021 which is just 2 per cent growth from January 2020. The overall imports plunged due to the sharp decline of imports of petroleum products by 27.7 per cent YoY which is a decrease of $3.6 billion.
Further, the imports of transport equipment also witnessed a negative trend with a decrease of 25.4 per cent YoY amounting to $561.9 million.
However, comparing the export and import data for January 2021 Year-on-Year (YoY), a narrow trade deficit by 3.6 per cent YoY ― equivalent to $545.3 million― has been observed for January 2021.
Some key steps by the Government ― such as extension of the Foreign Trade Policy (2015-20) by one year up to 31-3-2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, extension of the Interest Equalization Scheme on pre and post shipment rupee export credit by one year, the new Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products (RoDTEP) scheme, Common Digital Platform for Certificate of Origin to facilitate trade and increase FTA utilization by exporters, promoting and diversifying services exports by pursuing specific action plans for the 12 Champion Services Sectors, promoting districts as export hubs by identifying products with export potential in each district, the package in light of the COVID-19 pandemic to support domestic industry through various banking and financial sector relief measures (especially for MSMEs which constitute a major share in exports), etc. ― were all undertaken to boost Indian exports.
Click here to subscribe to The Commune on Telegram and get the best stories of the day delivered to you personally.