India's export surges 37.5 percent to $246 Billion in 2010-11
Wednesday, 20 April 2011, 06:25 IST
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New Delhi: India's exports surged 37.5 percent to $245.9 billion in 2010-11, substantially surpassing the official target of $200 billion, on the back of nearly 85 percent jump in engineering exports, Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma said Tuesday. "It is indeed heartening to see that our exports for the year ending March 31, 2011 touched $245.9 billion," Sharma told reporters here. The government had set a target of $200 billion of export for 2010-11, which was 15 percent higher than the previous fiscal's figure. "Exports have indeed exceeded our expectations. This is the first time exports have crossed $200 billion mark. In fact, beating our target, it crossed $200 billion mark in February itself," the minister said. India's total imports in 2010-11 were $350.3 billion, resulting in a trade deficit of $104.4 billion. In March, exports jumped 43.9 percent to $29.1 billion. On growth prospects in the coming years, Sharma said exports were targeted to nearly double to $450 billion by 2014. "Based on the performance of exports, we are confident we will achieve the target of exports of $450 billion which we have set for ourselves in the draft strategy paper," he said. Exports of engineering goods recorded the sharpest growth in 2010-11. Engineering exports surged 84.76 percent to $60 billion. Export of petroleum products rose 50.58 percent to $42.45 billion. The gems and jewellery sector, which is a considerable employer, saw an export of $33.54 billion, a growth of 15.34 percent over the previous year. "India today is looked upon as one of the leading players in the global arena. The growth path will continue in coming year as well," said Rajiv Jain, chairman of the Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council. The performance of this industry is critical as it contributes 16.67 percent of India's total merchandise exports. The growth in the sector was primarily driven by cut and polished diamonds which registered an increase of 54.91 percent in 2010-11. Drugs and pharmaceuticals sectors, for which India has gained considerable global reputation, saw exports worth $10.32 billion, a growth of 15.08 percent. Ready-made garments exports rose 4.23 percent to $11.1 billion. However, exports of iron ore fell 25 percent to $4.5 billion in the reporting fiscal.
Source: IANS
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