Exports grow 10% in January 2012
India’s export growth rate recorded a marginal increase in January over the previous month with the overseas shipments expanding by 10.1 per cent year-on-year to $25.4 billion despite weak demand in the western markets.
Pushed by expensive crude oil and vegetable oil, imports grew at a faster rate of 20.3 per cent to $40.1 billion, leaving a trade deficit of $14.7 billion, Commerce Secretary Rahul Khullar told reporters here while giving provisional figures today.
The shipments had grown by 6.7 per cent year-on-year in December 2011. According to Khullar, the problems in the US and Europe are clearly weighing down on the country’s exports. From a peak of 82 per cent in July 2011, export growth has slipped to 44.25 per cent in August 2011, 36.36 per cent in September 2011 and 10.8 per cent in October last year. But, for the cumulative April-January period, exports aggregated to $242.8 billion showing a healthy growth of 23.5 per cent, thanks to sterling trend witnessed in the previous months of the current fiscal.
“Exports for the fiscal of around $300 billion, imports at about $460 billion with a balance of trade of about $160 billion,” he said.
Steady rise of 29.4 per cent in imports for the ten-month period to $391.5 billion has left trade gap widening to $148.7 billion. “Imports are still buoyant because of high prices of crude oil and vegetable oil...trade deficit is large but my guess is that it will narrow down in the next two months,” he added. He also said that 2012-13 would be difficult year for exporters. Exporting sectors which registered healthy growth in April-January include engineering and petroleum.
