India’s overall exports, including merchandise and services, witnessed a 4.86% year-on-year increase in the first half of FY25, reaching $393.22 billion for the April-September period, according to data released by the Commerce Ministry on Wednesday.

Despite the growth in exports, India’s trade deficit surged significantly. The trade gap for April-September 2024-25 expanded by 24.11%, rising from $44.18 billion to $54.83 billion.

The overall import for the first half of FY25 stood at USD 448.05 billion up from USD 419.18 billion, an increase of 6.89%.
Merchandise exports increased from USD 211.08 billion to USD 213.22 billion. While the services exports rose from USD 163.92 billion to USD 180 billion.

Engineering goods remained the largest export category, with a total value of USD 56.24 billion. Petroleum products accounted for USD 36.56 billion, while exports of electronic goods rose to USD 15.64 billion. The export of drugs and pharmaceuticals reached USD 14.43 billion, and organic and inorganic chemicals stood at USD 14.11 billion.

Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal highlighted the consistent export growth and the success of niche products like ayush and apples in global markets.

India’s merchandise export growth of 5.3% outpaced the global average of 0.1%. Notably, gold imports saw a sharp rise, with the value doubling from USD 4.94 billion last year to USD 10.06 billion this year. Barthwal said that this increase was driven by seasonal demand related to Indian festivals.

(ANI)