As India’s exports in the first quarter of 2024-25 (April-June) crossed the USD 200 billion mark, the government has expressed its optimism about reaching its full-year target of USD 800 billion.

Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal expressed optimism about reaching the full-year goal while releasing June’s trade data on Monday. “We are quite optimistic and it gives us optimism that we’d be crossing our $800 billion of trade this year,” Barthwal said.

According to the commerce ministry data, India’s overall exports, including both merchandise and services, reached $65.47 billion in June, marking a 5.4% increase year-on-year. The breakdown shows merchandise exports rose to $35.20 billion from $34.32 billion, while services exports increased to $30.27 billion from $27.79 billion.

Imports also saw an uptick in June, with overall imports rising by 6.3% to $73.47 billion compared to the same period last year.

The government’s optimism is buoyed by the country’s recent export performance. In the financial year 2023-24, India registered record exports of $778 billion, slightly higher than the previous year’s $776.3 billion.

Several factors have contributed to this growth, including the government’s Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme across various sectors, aimed at enhancing India’s global competitiveness and integrating the country into global supply chains.

Notably, exports to countries such as China, Russia, Iraq, UAE, and Singapore have seen substantial increases, albeit from a low base. Other key export destinations include the UK, Australia, Saudi Arabia, the Netherlands, and South Africa.

Despite the positive export figures, India’s overall imports declined from $898.0 billion in 2022-23 to $853.8 billion in 2023-24. This has led to a significant improvement in the trade deficit, which narrowed from $121.6 billion to $75.6 billion over the same period.

(Inputs from ANI)