India’s Export Growth in October 2024
In October 2024, India’s total exports, including both merchandise and services, reached USD 73.21 billion, marking a 19.07% increase compared to the same month last year, which was USD 61.48 billion. Merchandise exports rose from USD 33.43 billion to USD 39.20 billion, while services exports increased from USD 28.05 billion to USD 34.02 billion.
April to October 2024-25 Performance
From April to October 2024-25, India’s total exports amounted to approximately USD 468.27 billion, a 7.28% rise year-on-year. The government is optimistic about achieving its full-year target of USD 800 billion.
Import and Trade Deficit
India’s imports also increased year-on-year in October, with overall imports rising from USD 77.33 billion to USD 83.33 billion. The trade deficit, which is the difference between exports and imports, widened from USD 60.02 billion to USD 63.24 billion, a 5.36% increase.
Commerce Secretary’s Statement
Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal stated, “It has been an extremely good month for us, and not only our overall export progress has been extremely good, but if you look at April to October, this has been the highest ever non-petroleum exports from this country ever. So we have broken all the records.”
Previous Financial Year Performance
In the financial year 2023-24, India recorded exports of USD 778 billion, with services exports rising from USD 325.3 billion to USD 341.1 billion, while merchandise exports slightly declined from USD 451.1 billion to USD 437.1 billion. The trade deficit improved significantly from USD 121.6 billion in 2022-23 to USD 75.6 billion in 2023-24.
Government Initiatives
The government launched a Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme in various sectors, including electronic goods, to enhance global competitiveness, attract investments, boost exports, integrate India into the global supply chain, and reduce import dependency.
Doubts Revealed
Exports -: Exports are goods or services that a country sells to other countries. When India sells things like clothes, software, or machinery to other countries, that’s called exporting.
Commerce Secretary -: The Commerce Secretary is a high-ranking official in the Indian government who helps manage trade and business activities. Sunil Barthwal is the person holding this position.
Merchandise exports -: Merchandise exports refer to physical goods that are sold to other countries, like cars, electronics, or textiles.
Services exports -: Services exports are non-physical products that are sold to other countries, like IT services, banking, or tourism.
Trade deficit -: A trade deficit happens when a country buys more from other countries than it sells to them. It means India is importing more than it is exporting.
Non-petroleum exports -: Non-petroleum exports are goods sold to other countries that do not include oil or gas products. This can include things like textiles, machinery, or software.
PLI scheme -: The PLI scheme, or Production Linked Incentive scheme, is a government program in India designed to encourage companies to produce more goods in India by offering them financial incentives.
