Reaching a two-year high, exports registered a jump of 23.2 per cent at $18.02 billion in September compared to the same month last year, while the massive rise in imports raised concerns over widening of the trade gap.
Asserting that India was on track to surpass the $200-billion exports target, Union Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma said on Monday that during the April-September period of this fiscal, exports aggregated $103.30 billion, a 27.6 per cent increase compared to last year.
Releasing the trade figures to newsmen here, Commerce Secretary Rahul Khullar said the growth could be partly attributed to the low base in the previous year and increasing prices.
“This is the first month in which, in the last two years, exports are higher than 2008-09 and 2009-10,'' he added.
However, imports outstripped exports growing by 26.1 per cent to $27.14 billion in September compared to the same month in the previous year. Cumulative imports in April-September, 2010, were $166.5 billion, translating into a massive trade gap of $63.2 billion during the six-month period. “We still need to be concerned over the balance of trade deficit,'' Mr. Khullar said.
Crude oil, gems and jewellery and edible oil constitute the major part of the country's import bill. In the first six months, imports of petroleum and related items went up by 54 per cent, gems and jewellery by 21 per cent and engineering items by 41 per cent.
The trade deficit in September alone stood at $9.12 billion, Mr. Khullar said. However, this was lower than the $13-billion deficit in August.
Except for iron ore, electronic items, man-made fibre and handicrafts, exports from other sectors, including gems and jewellery, engineering goods and apparels, witnessed growth.
The Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) expressed concern over the strengthening rupee against the U.S. dollar and said the Reserve Bank of India should intervene to check the volatility. The rupee had appreciated by about 5 per cent against the dollar since January. Mr. Khullar too said the exchange rate would not affect export contracts that had already been entered into with buyers, but might impact future contracts. The sectors that performed well in the April-September period in exports include plastics (34 per cent growth), gems and jewellery (21 per cent), engineering goods (41 per cent), iron-ore (60 per cent), spices (35 per cent), drugs (12 per cent) and chemicals (26 per cent). “In most sectors, we are seeing rebound. Even in areas like textiles,'' he said.
On the other hand, imports of fertilizers during the period were up by 43 per cent, while inbound shipments of crude and related items (30 per cent), vegetable oil (55 per cent), gems and precious stones (130 per cent), gold (16.7 per cent), iron and steel (58 per cent) and machinery (17.5 per cent) registered an increase.
Mr. Khullar said India's edible oil imports were likely to increase to 9.5-10 million tonnes this fiscal. Last year, edible oil imports stood at about 8.5 million tonnes.
