December 10, 2021
During the first seven months of the current fiscal, rice exports rose to US$ 5.28 billion.
Exports of fruits and vegetables rose to US$ 1.53 billion during the same period.
The period also saw an increase in outbound shipments of meat, dairy and poultry products.
Factors such as promotion of geographical indications (GI) tag goods, virtual buyer seller meets, recognition of testing labs contributed to this growth.
The first week of December saw the country’s outbound shipments increase by 44.24% year-on-year, propelled by a boost in the exports of petroleum products, gems and jewellery and engineering goods. Merchandise exports amounted to US$ 8.5 billion during this period, while imports rose at a faster pace at 45.3% year-on-year, amounting to US$ 14.14 billion netting a trade deficit of US$ 5.64 billion, according to a government source. With the exception of petroleum, exports rose by 28.55% year-on-year and by 28.36% during the corresponding period last year. Transport equipment and pulses imports declined during the first week. The same period saw the imports of non-oil and non-gems and jewellery imports rise by 36.36% in the first week of December.
Sustained increase in exports witnessed in the recent past
In November, India’s merchandise exports rose and grew by 26.49% year-on-year to US$ 29.88 billion. Engineering goods, petroleum products, plastics and cotton yarn led the growth. Non-petroleum exports in November amounted to $26.06 billion, recording a growth of 18.1% over the same period in 2020 and a growth of 18.69% at $21.95 billion in November 2019, according to data released by the commerce and industry ministry in a statement. A sequential decline was, however, noted in exports at 16% to US$ 29.88 billion from US$ 35.65 billion, during the same month. A 57.18% rise in imports leaving an all-time trade deficit of US$ 23.27 billion from November 2020’s US$ 10.19 billion was observed in the official data released on December 1. Exports rose by 50.71% at $262.46 billion while imports rose 75.39% at $384.44 billion during the first eight months of the fiscal.
Healthy growth witnessed in the exports of food and non-food products
Supported by the healthy growth in commodities including rice, fresh fruits and vegetables, exports of agricultural and processed food products have risen by 14.7 % to US$ 11.65 billion during the April-October period, revealed the ministry of commerce. During the first seven months of the current fiscal, rice exports rose to US$ 5.28 billion, compared to US$ 4.77 billion during the corresponding period the previous year.
Between April-October in 2021-22, exports of fruits and vegetables rose to US$ 1.53 billion, compared to US$ 1.37 billion between April-October 2020-21.
December saw the export of about 9.39 lakh tonnes of sugar for the ongoing 2021-22 marketing year which began on October 1. Exactly 9,39,435 tonnes of sugar have been exported between October 1 to December 6, 2021. According to the All India Sugar Trade Association (AISTA), about 4.68 lakh tonnes of sugar is currently in transit and that mills have exported 33 lakh tonnes of sugar without the government subsidy so far in the 2021-22 marketing year. A record 7.23 million tonnes were exported by India during the marketing year 2020-21.
Marine exports also grew
During the first six months of the current financial year 2021-22, around 6.05 lakh tonnes of marine products amounting to US$ 3.65 million were exported. According to Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying Parshottam Rupala, He also added that the country had exported 11.49 lakh tonnes of marine production amounting to US$ 5.78 million during the financial year 2021-21.
The period also saw an increase in outbound shipments of meat, dairy and poultry products to US$ 2.28 million during April-October 2021 from US$ 1.97 billion during the corresponding period the previous year. An increase by 29.2 percent was observed in cashew exports amounting to US$ 265.27 million during the same period. Promotion of geographical indications (GI) tag goods, virtual buyer seller meets, recognition of 220 labs across the country to enable services of testing are among the various factors which contributed to boosting the growth of exports, along with financial assistance schemes of infrastructure development, market development, International Trade Fairs, and registration of meat processing plants and abattoirs for ensuring compliance with global food safety and quality requirements.
With regard to Imports, shipments from the US, UAE and China saw the highest increases. Among products, petroleum, coal and chemical imports rose the most. The US, Australia and the Netherlands were the top destinations of India’s goods but those to China, Saudi Arabia and Tanzania declined.