Exports

Commerce secretary Anup Wadhawan said that excellent growth of Agri exports in FY21 has come after it remained stagnant for the past three years (USD 38.43 billion in 2017-18, USD 38.74 billion in 2018-19 and USD 35.16 billion 2019-20).

Exports last month also recorded a 16.03 per cent growth over $26.04 billion in April 2019, said an official statement. India's merchandise imports in April 2021 were $45.45 billion, with an increase of 165.99 per cent over $17.09 billion in April 2020 and an increase of 7.22 per cent over $42.39 billion in April 2019.

India's total merchandise exports during this period were $34 billion as compared to $21.49 billion in March 2020 registering a jump of 58.23 per cent. The monthly growth is the best-ever performance so far. The sudden jump in outbound shipments offers hope of sustained growth in the sector in the coming months on the back of vaccine roll-out and containment of virus spread.

The country's merchandise exports during the month under review increased to $34 billion as compared to $21.49 billion in March 2020. "In March 2021, the value of non-petroleum exports was USD30.79 billion as compared to USD18.97 billion in March 2020, registering a positive growth of 62.3 per cent," a Ministry of Commerce and Industry statement said on the basis of preliminary data.