Exports

During December 2023, the overall trade deficit narrowed to $5.17 billion from $7.75 billion in December 2022.

Merchandise exports in June was at $32.97 billion, while imports were $53.10 billion during the same month. During May, merchandise exports were $34.98 billion, while imports were at $57.10 billion. India's exports were down owing to slowdown in major economies of the world, commerce secretary Sunil Barthwal told media persons. 

The country surpassed a remarkable Rs 90,000 crore worth smartphone exports in the fiscal year 2022-2023. According to the India Cellular and Electronics Association (ICEA), the mobile phone exports have already registered a massive 128 per cent growth in the months of April-May this year.

Imports also slid 6.6 per cent to $57.1 billion against $61.13 billion during the corresponding period of last year. As a result, the trade deficit rose to a five-month high of $22.1 billion. India has been consistently witnessing trade deficit for many years now. It occurs mainly due to high demand for crude oil, gold and electronic goods, which form a main chunk of India's import basket.

Addressing the industry body Assocham's annual session, Goyal said that in 2021-22, the country's goods and services exports touched an all-time high of $422 billion and $254 billion respectively, taking the total shipments to $676 billion. "There's obviously much faster growth in services, but growth in both (merchandise and services exports) is good. Probably we will end the year with about $760 billion (in exports), if not more," Goyal said.

To a query on key developments and results of efforts toward harmonisation of Indian standards, Pramod Kumar Tiwari said: "It is crucial in many areas of trade that international standards are followed, for example, containers are used to transport good across the world. A huge number of containers are being used by Indian entities also, but containers are not being manufactured in India.

The country's trade deficit, however, narrowed to $17.43 billion in February, according to data released by the Commerce Ministry. This is the third consecutive month when exports have fallen. Imports also witnessed a fall by 8.21 per cent to $51.31 billion compared to $55.9 billion recorded in the corresponding month last year.

Similarly, imports also declined in January by 3.63 per cent to $50.66 billion as against $52.57 billion in the same month last year. Trade deficit in January was $17.75 billion, a 12-month low. Cumulatively, however, during April-January 2022-23, the country's merchandise exports rose 8.51 per cent to $369.25 billion, while imports increased 21.89 per cent to $602.20 billion, the data showed.