India’s merchandise exports grew in September after two months of contraction, on the back of a rise in the shipments of engineering, chemical, plastic, pharma and electronic goods and readymade garments.Trade deficit narrowed to a five-month low but widened from a year earlier, official data released on Wednesday showed.Merchandise exports grew 0.5% from a year earlier to $34.58 billion in September while trade deficit widened to $20.78 billion from $20.08 billion. Exports were down 0.4% from the previous month when the trade gap was $29.7 billion.Goods imports increased 1.6% to $55.36 billion compared with $54.49 billion in the year-ago month.Commerce secretary Sunil Barthwal said exports both in September and during the first six months of FY25 have recorded positive growth despite global uncertainties.For the first six months of 2024-25, goods exports were 1% higher whereas imports were up 6.1%.”We have done well despite global difficulties,” Barthwal said, adding that the government is looking at shipping issues which have cropped up because of the crisis in West Asia and is working on short-term and long-term measures to resolve them.Gold imports rose to $4.39 billion in September against $4.11 billion in the same month last year, but the volume of imports was lower 2.2% in April-August FY25.India’s major export destinations during this period included the US, the UAE, Netherlands, the UK and China. China, Russia, the UAE, the US, and Iraq remained the top suppliers.”Even such a marginal increase in merchandise exports, amid rising geopolitical tension coupled with economic uncertainties and logistical challenges, is a good sign of revival,” said Ashwani Kumar, president of the Federation of Indian Export Organisations.Referring to the sharp rise in gold imports last month because of import tariff cuts and festive buying, Barthwal said: “One should not be alarmed by one month’s figure.”Alcoholic beverages exports are growing in double digits and are expected to increase 15-20% this year, officials said, adding that it is a $135 billion market across the world and India is just at $350 million.FTA progressIndia and the UK are expected to hold the next round of talks in November for a proposed free-trade agreement. The budget presentation in Britain is on October 30 after which “we expect the UK would come forward” for the next round of negotiations, said an official. UK officials are also briefing their new ministers about the proposed FTA.The India-UK talks for the FTA began in January 2022. The 14th round of talks stalled due to elections on both sides.Officials said India’s concerns on the European Union’s sustainability measures, such as CBAM and Deforestation Regulation, were taken up in the recently concluded round of talks with the EU. “We discussed how these new regulations will impact India,” said an official.The next meeting between Barthwal and EU’s director-general is being planned in November. Officials said utilisation of the India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement is above 80% even though there is some contraction in trade in coal, coke and briquettes.
Source link
Follow Us:
https://facebook.com/gagab2b
https://youtube.com/gagab2b
https://gagab2b.com
