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India's Exports are on the Right Track!
India’s exports is on the fire in terms of merchandise plus services exports. It crossed $776 Billion mark for two consecutive years as in FY 2022-23 it was $776.3 Billion and in FY 2023-24 it is $776.68 Billion according to the latest data published by the Ministry of Commerce. “We have beaten all the odds as we have surpassed the overall exports figures of 2022-23,” said commerce secretary Sunil Barthwal, attributing the positive growth to the government’s strategy of exploring new markets and expanding its export basket.
India's Exports Rose in 115 Countries out of 238
There are 115 export destinations where India’s export percentage has increased. Some of these places like the US, Netherlands, China, UK , Bangladesh, Germany, Italy, Saudi Arabia, UAE and Singapore account for 46.5 per cent of India’s export basket.Â
From countries like Saudi Arabia and UAE, we were importing crude oil extensively but now India’s export to these countries has also significantly increased. Same goes with China, Singapore and other countries as well. India’s export percentage to the these countries has started to shoot up. It is not happening suddenly and spontaneously. We have sign deals earlier with some of these countries which results in these kind of impressive data.Â
The UAE has emerged as the primary destination with a substantial 12.71 per cent growth in export value at $35.6 billion, thanks to Rupee-Dirham deal between India & UAE. Also India-UAE CEPA celebrates two years marked by robust growth in bilateral trade.
Further, India’s export to its top 10 destinations witnessed a 13 percent year-on-year increase in 2023-24. Similarly, exports to Singapore that surged by 20.19 percent to $14.4 Billion, to the UK up by 13.30 percent to $13 Billion and to China up by 8.70 percent to $16.7 Billion, also recorded healthy growth indicating a sustained demand for Indian products.
Another good part is India’s imports have declined from 124 countries in 2023-24. The decline in imports are reported from countries like the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait and Oman as these are oil producing countries and India full-filled its energy needs by importing crude oil and natural gas from Russia at cheaper price due to Ukraine War, ditching middle eastern oil.Â
India's Grand Entry in New Markets to Grow Exports
In the last few years, India has made some changes in its export strategy in recent times like exploring some new markets to increase exports. And it worked really well as there is an exponential jump in the export percentage in these new markets. The data showed that the exponential growth rates observed in countries likeÂ
- Russia (35.41 %)
- Romania (138.84 %), and
- Albania (234.97 %)
underscores the exploration of new markets.Â
India's Trade Deficit significantly improved in FY 2023-24
India’s trade deficit in FY 2023-24 is estimated to be $78.12 Billion, an improvement of 35.77% compared to 2022-23, when it was $121.62 Billion. The reason behind this is India’s import form 124 countries has declined especially with GCC(Gulf Cooperation Council).
In FY 20234-24, we did $854.8 Billion worth of imports and $776.68 Billion worth of exports. When you subtract exports from imports, you will get the trade deficit i.e. $78 Billion. The downfall of trade deficit indicates early signs of India being a exporter the world.Â
India’s rank in world merchandise exporters too has improved from 19th to 17th. The share of India’s merchandise exports has also increased marginally from 1.70% in 2014 to 1.82% in 2023. The share of India’s merchandise exports has also increased marginally from 1.70 % in 2014 to 1.82% in 2023.
You can watch the detailed analysis of this topic by clicking on the video below and you can read the official press release here.
Conclusion
India is performing well in terms of exports but it need to continuously grow for many years to compete with China and to become a export more and import less country. The Make In India program seems to be a great move by the Indian government as it has started to produce results in terms of exponential growth in exports and cutting down trade deficit significantly. India has significantly invested in building infrastructure and supply chains so that logistically merchandise export can become smooth leading to increase in exports. So hard work of many years has now started to paying off finally which feels pleasant to witness.
You can watch the detailed analysis of this topic by clicking on the video below and you can read the official press release here.
