The details regarding Indias ten largest trading partners during the last three years along with

the volume of trade, and net trade balance is as below. Major items of export/import are available on website of Department of Commerce i.e. on http://www.commerce.nic.in. India has taken a number of initiatives to enhance trade in other parts of the world through various trade promotion programmes which aim to promote trade by giving market access initiatives, establishing institutional mechanisms such as Joint Trade Committees, holding fairs & exhibitions and by granting assistance to exporters to promote trade on ustained basis. For offsetting high freight cost and other externalities in select international markets, a new scheme called Focus Market Scheme has been launched since 1.4.2006. This allows exporters to get an incentive in the form of freely transferable duty credit scrip @ 2.5% of the FOB value of exports of such products. The initiative aims at enhancing Indias competitiveness for export to identified Focus Markets. To begin with, 8 countries in Latin America, 49 countries in Africa, 10 countries of Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), 5 countries in Central America and 1 country in Eastern Europe were notified as Focus Markets.

Top ten largest Trading partners during 2006-07 Country Trade Volume (Rs. In crores) USA CHINA PRP U ARAB EMTS SAUDI ARAB SINGAPORE GERMANY UK BELGIUM JAPAN KOREA RP 138474 116538 93620 72273 52302 52154 44311 34463 33748 33126 32263 -41479 15270 -48850 2622 -16140 6532 -3020 -7841 -10368 Trade Balance

Top ten largest Trading partners during 2007-08 Country Trade 2007-08 (Rs. In crores) USA CHINA PRP U ARAB EMTS SAUDI ARAB SINGAPORE GERMANY UK JAPAN HONG KONG KOREA RP 168013 152713 117148 93033 62344 60335 46909 40973 36252 35789 -1237 -65519 8682 -63188 -3020 -19137 7026 -9942 14518 -12826 Trade Balance

Top ten largest Trading partners 2008-09 (Apr-Feb) Country Trade 2008-09 (Rs. In crores) CHINA PRP USA U ARAB EMTS SAUDI ARAB GERMANY SINGAPORE UK HONG KONG BELGIUM NETHERLAND 1,63,202 1,55,353 1,52,668 1,05,602 67,602 63,280 50,144 50,129 41,552 33,099 -92,676 12,254 -1,934 -64,303 -19,497 2,934 524 1,772 -5,294 Trade Balance

Indian Economy in the last decade

From the last decade Indian economy has not looked back and progressing at a faster rate. The Indian economy has also survived the downfall as the other economies have and proved that Indian Economists are Great. This was a plus point of the Indian economy and it has been growing since then. The global financial crises also could not do much harm to the economy of India. This was all a result of the Good Economic planning of the countrys economic structure. Statistics have shown that Indian economy will boon from now on and will not see a down fall in the near future. The growth of the Indian economy has been steady and this is still the trend that is seen. There have been other statistical records which have seen that the Indian economy is steadily on a high. Indian foreign exchange was high in the year 2009 with the value being US Dollars 285.5 billion. This was less to US dollars 1.217 trillion in 2008. So we see how steadily the economy has been growing. It has been seen that the growth each year was close to some twenty percent to thirty percent. This is not a small thing and with such stead growth records the countrys economy will be increasing no doubt. The GDP has also shown consistent growth and hence the trend is still the same. Much advancement has also been made. The Indian economy Growing and the statistical records of last 10 years have shown increase in the trend so we hope for a positive scenario in the coming years too. This is a positive trend and there is no chance of the down fall or Economic Crisis in The Future. So we hope all well as far as the Indian economy is concerned. By looking at the last decade figures we can be sure of the growing economy today.

Economics experts and various studies conducted across the globe envisage India and

China to rule the world in the 21st century. For over a century the United States has been the largest economy in the world but major developments have taken place in the world economy since then, leading to the shift of focus from the US and the rich countries of Europe to the two Asian giants - India and China. The rich countries of Europe have seen the greatest decline in global GDP share by 4.9 percentage points, followed by the US and Japan with a decline of about 1 percentage point each. Within Asia, the rising share of China and India has more than made up the declining global share of Japan since 1990. During the seventies and the eighties, ASEAN countries and during the eighties South Korea, along with China and India, contributed to the rising share of Asia in world GDP. India is slated to become the third largest economy with a share of 14.3 per cent of global economy by 2015 and graduate to become the "third pole" and growth driver by 2035. As the share of USA in World GDP falls from 21 to 18 per cent and that of India rises from 6 to 11 per cent in 2025, the latter emerges as third pole in the global economy, according to ADB India Economic Bulletin. India, which is now the fourth largest economy in terms of purchasing power parity, will overtake Japan and become third major economic power within 10 years. A growth rate of above 8% was achieved by the Indian economy during the year 2003-04 and in the advanced estimates for 2004-05, Indian economy has been predicted to grow at a level of 6.9 %. Growth in the Indian economy has steadily increased since 1979, averaging 5.7% per year in the 23-year growth record. Many factors are behind this robust performance of the Indian economy in 2004-05. High growth rates in Industry & service sector and a benign world economic environment provided a backdrop conducive to the Indian economy. Another positive feature was that the growth was accompanied by continued maintenance of relative stability of prices. There is a paramount need to move Indian agriculture beyond its centuries old dependency on monsoon. This can be achieved by bringing more area under irrigation and by better water management. In spite of measures taken to attract Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), the inflow was below expectations in the last five years. A significant achievement of the economy in the external sector has been the steady and sustained improvement in the balance of payment position. Another notable development was the decline in the inflation rate during the five years. Value-Added Tax (VAT), one of the most radical reforms to be proposed for the Indian economy, has been approved by 21 Indian States. Over 120 countries worldwide have introduced VAT over the past three decades and India is amongst the last few to introduce it. The Government has set up several committees with a view to pursue economic reforms that enable higher economic growth and generate more employment, while making the Indian economy more globally competitive. The Government has also taken several steps to revitalize the public sector and increase public investment. Two important institutional innovations have been the creation of the National Committee on Infrastructure, chaired by the Prime Minister, and the Investment Commission, chaired by Shri Ratan Tata. The economy is expected to grow at close to 7 per cent. To step up the rate of growth

further, requires more investment in infrastructure and in agriculture and an improvement in government finances. High-energy costs continue to exert pressure on the price front. While work on the national highways project has been speeded up, port and rail modernization has acquired a much higher profile recently. Public and private investment in both areas has been stepped up sharply. A financial Special Purpose Vehicle has been created to channelize funds for investment in the infrastructure sector. Economic reforms began in earnest only in July 1991. The reforms of the last 10 years have gone a long way toward freeing up the domestic economy from state control. Progress has also been made in many areas that were previously off limits to reforms. Insurance has been opened to private investors, both domestic and foreign. Diesel oil and gas prices have undergone some increases. At least symbolic reductions have also been made in fertilizer and food subsidies. The value-added tax has undergone substantial rationalization. These reforms have paid handsomely. The economy has grown at more than 6 percent coupled with full macroeconomic stability. Economic reforms of the last decade have virtually bypassed agriculture. Besides fertilizers among others, farmers need adequate supply of water and electricity. Financial sector reforms, particularly the reform of banking, remain a distant goal. While foreign banks are now allowed freely to open branches in India, they have not yet moved in aggressively. Banking sector privatization will take time but large efficiency gains could be achieved if labor laws are reformed to restore the hire and fire policy. The most important area of reforms is perhaps Indias power sector. Virtually no sector of the economy industry, agriculture, or services can achieve successful transformation without adequate supply of power. Infrastructure is another important area of reforms. Roads, railways, and ports all need expansion as well as improvement in the quality of service. Fertilizer and food subsidies pose yet another challenge. As much as 0.7 percent of GDP goes into fertilizer subsidies. Finally, the reform of bureaucracy is essential. The problem of a bloated bureaucracy and the need for downsizing it is well recognized. Moreover, the success of the reforms in delivering growth and poverty reduction must make the road to future reforms less bumpy. In India for almost four decades the country was pursuing a path of development in which public sector was expected to be the engine of growth. However, the public sector had overgrown itself and their shortcomings started manifesting in the shape of low capacity utilization and low efficiency due to over manning and poor work ethics, over capitalization due to substantial time and cost overruns, inability to innovate, take quick and timely decisions, large interference in decision making process etc. The Government started to deregulate the areas of its operation and subsequently, the disinvestment in Public Sector Enterprises (PSEs) was announced. The process of deregulation was aimed at enlarging competition and allowing new firms to enter the markets. The market was thus opened up to domestic entrepreneurs / industrialists and norms for entry of foreign capital were liberalized. Due to the current revenue expenditure on items such as interest payments, wages and salaries of Government employees and subsidies, the Government is left with hardly any surplus for capital expenditure on social and physical infrastructure. While the

Government would like to spend on basic education, primary health and family welfare, large amount of resources are blocked in several non-strategic sectors such as hotels, trading companies, consultancy companies, textile companies, chemical and pharmaceuticals companies, consumer goods companies etc. Additionally, the continued existence of the PSEs is forcing the Government to commit further resources for the sustenance of many non-viable PSEs. The Government continues to expose the taxpayers' money to risk, which it can readily avoid. To top it all, there is a huge amount of debt overhang, which needs to be serviced and reduced before money is available to invest in infrastructure. All this makes disinvestment of the Government stake in the PSEs absolutely imperative.