Amidst Widening Trade Deficit, Exports Of Non-petroleum Goods Push India’s Exports To USD 74.97 Bn In Jan 2025

New Delhi, Feb 18 (KNN) India's combined merchandise and services exports demonstrated robust growth in January 2025, reaching USD 74.97 billion compared to USD 68.33 billion in the previous year, according to recent data from the Commerce Ministry. 

However, this growth was accompanied by a significant widening of the trade deficit to USD 2.67 billion from USD 0.39 billion, as imports rose to USD 77.64 billion.

Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal emphasised the country's strong export performance during the April 2024 to January 2025 period, noting a 7.21 percent growth with a USD 46 billion increase compared to the previous year. 

The merchandise export sector contributed USD 5 billion during this period, with non-petroleum exports in January showing a particularly impressive growth of 14.47 percent.

Specific sectors demonstrated notable strength, with rice exports surging by 44.61 percent, further solidifying India's position in the global rice market. 

The gems and jewellery sector also showed significant improvement, recording a 15.9 percent growth in January, indicating a substantial recovery in this important export segment.

The cumulative export performance for the April-December 2024 period showed sustained growth, with total exports reaching USD 602.64 billion, marking a 6.03 percent increase from USD 568.36 billion in the corresponding period of 2023. 

Within this, merchandise exports for the first nine months of FY2024 reached USD 321.71 billion, showing a modest increase of 1.6 percent from the previous year's USD 316.65 billion.

Of particular significance was the performance of non-petroleum exports in December 2024, which increased by 5.05 percent to reach USD 33.09 billion, up from USD 31.50 billion in December 2023. 

This growth demonstrates the resilience of India's export sector despite ongoing global challenges, including geopolitical conflicts and tariff-related issues, highlighting the effectiveness of the country's trade policies and sustained international demand for Indian goods and services.

(KNN Bureau)