July exports reach almost last year's level: Piyush Goyal

Showing signs of significant improvement, the country's exports in July have reached almost the level of the corresponding month last year, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Tuesday.

He said several indicators are reflecting that the economic activities are reviving in the country.

"Our exports have almost reached last year’s July level, with nearly 90 percent of our export of July 2019 has come back. And, in fact, if we were to remove the oil-related exports, where we are largely a small value adder... we are 95 percent plus on the revival of our exports," he said.

The minister added that the country "today is in a mood" to not only bring back economic activity but also become self-reliant, improve the quality and competitive pricing of products.

Officially the export numbers for the month of July would be released by the commerce ministry during mid-August.

India's exports fell for the fourth straight month in June as shipments of key segments like petroleum and textiles declined but the country's trade turned surplus for the first time in 18 years as imports dropped by a steeper 47.59 percent.

Exports in value terms declined by 12.41 percent to $21.91 billion in June on weak global demand due to Covid-19.

After falling for a record 60.28 percent in April, the rate of contraction of the country's total merchandise shipments slowed down to 36.7 percent in May and 12.441 percent in June.