New Delhi, Feb 11 (IANS) India’s merchandise exports rose for the third successive month and logged a 11.5-percent growth in January at $14.34 billion, Commerce Minister Anand Sharma said here Thursday.
The rise for the third straight month in January also comes after 13 successive months of decline since October 2008 on account of the global meltdown.

“We are registering a robust export growth. We had good exports of tea, coffee, basmati rice and plastics,” Commerce Minister Anand Sharma told reporters here.

India’s merchandise exports rose 9 percent year-on-year to $14.6 billion in December, while the value of shipments was up 18.2 percent in the month before at $13.2 billion.

Sharma said in a bid to keep the momentum of exports going, the government has added 41 new destinations where special attention will be paid and incentives extended. “This will help increase our exports to those countries we haven’t reached so far.”

Shifting to the overall performance of Indian industry, the minister was also optimistic that the factory output for December will continue to grow at a robust pace. “I am sure December will again see double-digit growth month,” he said.

India’s industrial production had expanded by 11.7 percent in November, led by a 12.7-percent jump in the manufacturing sector’s output.