INDIA’S EXPORT-IMPORT STATISTICS

Foreign 1991- 1992- 1993- 1994- 1995- 1996- 1997- 1998- 1999- 2000-01
Trade 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 Up to
Oct

Exports

Rs in 44041 53688 69751 82674 106353 118817 130101 141604 162925 112646
Crore (21.90) (29.91) (18.52) (28.64) (11.71) (9.49) (8.84) (15.06)

US$ in 17865 18537 22238 26330 31797 33470 35006 33659 37599 25013
Million (3.76) (19.96) (18.40) (20.76) (4.50) (4.60) (-3.84) (11.70)

Imports

Rs in 47851 63375 73101 89971 122678 138920 154176 176099 204583 136129
Crore (32.44) (15.34) (23.04) (36.35) (11.69) (10.98) (14.21) (16.17)

US$ in 19411 26250 23306 28654 36678 39133 41484 41858 47212 30270
Million (35.23) (- (22.94) (28.0) (6.70) (6.00) (0.90) (12.79)
11.21)

Forex **
Reserves

Rs in 14578 20140 47287 66006 58446 80368 102507 124412 152924

Crore* (38.15) (134.79 (39.58) (- (37.50) (27.54) (22.34) (21.94)
11.45)

US$ in 5631 6434 15068 20809 17044 22367 25975 29522 35058 38340**
Million (14.26) (134.19 (38.10) (- (31.23) (16.13) (13.65) (18.75)
18.09)

* 1 crore = 10 million
** Excluding US$ 2800 million of gold and US$ 2 million of Special Drawing Rights (SDRs)
reserves as on November 24, 2000.
** Including US$ 5500 million deposit mobilised by the State Bank of India through India
Millennium Depsoit.
Figures in bracket indicate year-on-year difference.
India's export target of $125 billion for 2006-07 has been met and the government hopes to
achieve $160 billion in the current financial year. In addition to goods, services worth $76 billion
have been exported. This growth in exports is remarkable but not surprising given the fact that
India holds clear comparative advantages in a large number of goods and in the new area of
services trade. Exports bring in valuable foreign exchange, create employment and foster
competitiveness.
But what is interesting is the growth in India's imports. The growth in February 2007 was higher
than the 5.55 per cent recorded in January 2007. According to the Director General of
Commercial Intelligence and Statistics, imports grew 25.11 per cent to $14.36 billion in
February, 2007, compared with the revised figure of $12.63 billion in February 2006. With
imports growing faster than exports, the trade deficit in February this year stood at $4.66 billion.
Trade deficit for the April 2006 to February 2007 period stood at $55.85 billion, 48 per cent
more than the trade deficit of $37.61 billion in the same period for last year. What does this mean
for a country like India?
Rising imports in today's economy is not the kind of bad news it used to be years ago. Today, a
country that is capable of importing large quantities of goods and services can use these imports
to produce more goods. Also, it has enough resources to pay for this level of rising imports. With
a strong foreign exchange reserve that now stands at 180 billion dollars, and a rich NRI
population that remits more than 23 billion dollars a year, the foreign exchange regime in India is
on a strong wicket. The hallmark of India's economic reforms have been an outward looking and
liberal trade policy characterised by removal of quantitative restrictions, rationalisation of tariff
levels to match the tariffs in other developing countries, especially ASEAN, removal of licenses
for setting up industrial units and removal of licenses and quotas for exports and imports. This
has led to a spectacular rise in both export and import levels over the last decade. India's share in
world trade which was 2.4 per cent in 1941 had reduced to 0.4 per cent in 1990 and has again
inched back to the 1 per cent level.
Trade policy reforms have marked a shift from India's policy of import substitution and export
pessimism. The mean tariffs on Indian borders for foreign goods have been consistently brought
down to meet the country's WTO obligations and also to bring parity between tariffs in India and
elsewhere in the world. From a mean tariff level of around 110 per cent in 1991, the mean tariffs
have been brought down to less than 22 per cent on most products, and it should further reduce
in the years to come. FDI inflows in 2006-07 were $16 billion and this is a big jump over the
$5.5 billion in 2005-06. A small number of goods fall in the 'restrictive list' of imports, the
restrictions being principally on account of security, health and environment protection issues.
Most goods are freely importable on payment of the specified customs duty without licensing
requirements. There are some import restrictions on goods reserved for production by the small-
scale sector units in the country, or are home or village-based requiring low skills and employing
a large number of people.
What is also interesting is the diversity of India's exports. Unlike most countries that depend on
trade with the US alone, India's exports go to a large number of countries. In fact, in the export
basket, India's most important trading partner is the European Union. UAE stands third with
nearly a tenth of India's exports headed there. In Imports too, India buys from a large number of
countries and here too, Saudi Arabia, UAE and Australia are important partners. The graphs
below show the share of exports and imports from India with its more important trading partners.
A diversification in the export import basket is important for countries that must reduce their
dependence only on one or two markets. And the Indian trade sector is clearly diversified, both
in terms of the large number of products it exports and imports and in the number of countries it
trades with.

India's exports are now reaching a larger number of countries and more and more items of export
are being traded. The same story repeats in terms of imports. Trade with European Union and the
Gulf has been increasing rapidly. India's look east policy has reaped benefits and trade with
eastern countries especially in the ASEAN region has grown. Given this strong growth in trade
and its diversity, it is important to look at what needs to be done further. In terms of policy the
only thing that needs to be looked at is the pace at which tariffs could be brought down further.
There is little or no role that the Commerce ministry has to play in trade beyond setting export
targets-$200 billion in 2008-09. It can do little on account of higher oil prices or poor labour law.
The Commerce ministry can only urge for reforms in infrastructure, simpler industrial procedure,
lower interest rates and a unified goods & services tax. The SEZ policy is a classic case of how
the Commerce ministry can do little amidst the confusion that exists in the domestic economy.
The deadlock at Doha shows how little the Commerce ministry can do given the confusion that
exists at the international level. At the regional level, the low levels of trade within SAARC
show how little the Commerce ministry can do at the regional level. However, what is indeed a
welcome sign is that increasingly trade policies are guided not by political interests and mindsets
but by the principles of international trade and inter dependence.

India's exports posted a growth of 9.3 per cent to $14.60 billion during Dec 2009, a official data
released said on Monday, Feb 1.

According to the official data, overseas shipments were $13.36 billion in Dec 2008.
Imports also turned around in Dec after 11 months, rising by 27.2 percent to $ 24.75 billion
compared to $ 19.45 in Dec 2008.

Exports had turned positive in Nov 2009 after falling for 13 straight months due to impact of the
financial crisis.

The shipments abroad had risen by 18.2 per cent to $13.19 billion in Nov 2009.

The trade deficit in Dec rose to $10.14 billion from $6 billion in Dec 2008.
 Commodity Apr-Jan 2009 Apr-Jan 2010(P) %Growth %Share
A) PLANTATION 4,088.56 3,961.72 -3.10 0.58
B) AGRI & ALLIED PRDTS 54,594.69 48,366.15 -11.41 7.11
C) MARINE PRODUCTS 6,040.41 8,379.05 38.72 1.23
D) ORES & MINERALS 29,426.45 31,073.90 5.60 4.57
E) LEATHER & MNFRS 14,005.21 13,177.53 -5.91 1.94
F) GEMS & JEWELLERY 108,926.49 107,087.31 -1.69 15.74
G) SPORTS GOODS 554.16 547.85 -1.14 0.08
H) CHEMICALS & RELATED PRODUCTS 93,325.71 93,288.29 -0.04 13.71
I) ENGINEERING GOODS 157,775.31 126,697.38 -19.70 18.62
J) ELECTRONIC GOODS 27,579.66 23,136.18 -16.11 3.40
K) PROJECT GOODS 571.39 467.38 -18.20 0.07
L) TEXTILES 72,346.23 73,825.88 2.05 10.85
M) HANDICRAFTS 1,223.30 802.42 -34.41 0.12
N) CARPETS 3,090.07 2,847.62 -7.85 0.42
O) COTTON RAW INCL WASTE 2,259.33 6,274.84 177.73 0.92
P) PETROLEUM PRODUCTS 109,678.55 104,559.09 -4.67 15.37
Q) UNCLASSIFIED EXPORTS 30,278.39 36,003.91 18.91 5.29
Total 715,763.91 680,496.50 -4.93 100.00

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