Thaindian News

New Delhi, July 8 (IANS) India’s merchandise exports rose 46.4 percent in June at $29.2 billion compared to June 2010, Commerce Secretary Rahul Khullar said Friday.

India’s imports in June grew at 42.4 percent at $36.9 billion resulting in a trade deficit of $7.7 billion, Khullar told reporters.

In May, exports went up by a whopping 56.93 percent at $25.94 billion, compared to $16.53 billion in May 2010.

For the first quarter of the current fiscal, exports increased 45.7 percent at $79 billion while imports rose by 36 percent to $110.6 billion, resulting in a trade deficit of $31.6 billion.

“If we keep growing at an excess of $79 billion we can achieve our target by 2014. At the same time, our imports are also increasing due to the high commodity prices,” said Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma.

During the quarter India exported $23 billion worth of engineering goods followed by $14 billion worth of petroleum products and $9.25 billion worth of gems and jewellery.

“Due to ban on exports of iron ore, fruits and vegetables and tobacco, these sectors are on negative growth,” said Khullar.

In the same period, India imported $30.5 billion worth of petroleum products followed by gold and silver at $17.7 billion and machinery worth $9 billion.

“There is a perceivable shift in the export mix from traditional to high end services such as engineering for which there seems to be a sustained overseas demand,” said Anis Chakravarty, director, advisory firm Deloitte Haskins and Sells.

Chakravarty added: “Recent improvements in the global economy and India’s diversification into new strategic regions such as Latin America and Africa are also bearing fruit.”