New Delhi: India witnessed a notable surge in the export of electronic goods, with a year-on-year increase of 37.31 percent, elevating the total value to USD 2.8 billion from USD 2.04 billion in July 2023, as per data released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
This growth is indicative of the expanding global demand for Indian electronics. Between April and July 2024, the aggregate export value of electronic goods soared to USD 11.24 billion. Furthermore, the data indicates that the most significant year-on-year growth in July 2024 was observed in the export of meat, dairy, and poultry products, which experienced a remarkable increase of 56.18 percent. This underscores a strong performance in India's agricultural export sector.
India's total exports, encompassing both merchandise and services, reached USD 62.42 billion in July, marking a 2.81 percent increase compared to the previous year, according to Commerce Ministry data released on Wednesday.
In the same month a year ago, the total exports stood at USD 60.71 billion. The value of merchandise goods exports decreased from USD 34.49 billion to USD 33.98 billion, while the value of service exports rose from USD 26.22 billion to USD 28.43 billion during the period. India's total exports, merchandise, and services combined, amounted to USD 65.47 billion in June.
During the initial four months of the 2024-25 fiscal year (April-July), India's total exports are estimated to be around USD 260 billion. The government has expressed confidence in achieving its full-year target of USD 800 billion.
In a similar vein, India's imports also witnessed a year-on-year increase in July, with the same trend observed in June. The aggregate value of imports, encompassing both merchandise and services, rose from USD 67.23 billion to USD 72.03 billion, marking a 7.13 percent increase in July.
Regarding the trade deficit, which represents the difference between exports and imports, it expanded from 6.5 percent to 9.61 percent in July. In the recently concluded fiscal year 2023-24, India recorded record exports of USD 778 billion. For the previous fiscal year, 2022-23, the country's exports of goods and services combined amounted to USD 776.3 billion. In terms of breakdown, service exports increased from USD 325.3 billion to USD 341.1 billion in the fiscal year 2023-24. Meanwhile, merchandise exports experienced a marginal decline from USD 451.1 billion to USD 437.1 billion.
Among various measures taken by the government, the launch of a Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme across various sectors, including electronics, was a significant step aimed at making Indian manufacturers globally competitive, attracting investments, enhancing exports, integrating India into the global supply chain, and reducing reliance on imports. These initiatives appear to have yielded positive results.
Overall, imports decreased from USD 898.0 billion in the fiscal year 2022-23 to USD 853.8 billion. Both merchandise and services exports saw a decline during the fiscal year. However, the overall trade deficit significantly improved from USD 121.6 billion in the fiscal year 2022-23 to USD 75.6 billion in the fiscal year 2023-24.
