Exports up 13.2% in July

Exports grew by 13.2 per cent to USD 16.24 billion in July compared to the same period last fiscal, posting growth for the ninth month in a row. Imports too jumped by 34.3 per cent to USD 29.17 billion in July compared to the same month last fiscal, according to the official data released on Wednesday. During April-July this fiscal, exports posted a growth rate of 30 per cent to USD 68.62 billion on year-on-year basis. Imports during the April-July period grew by 33.3 per cent to USD 112.2 billion. Oil imports in July grew by 4.4 per cent to USD 7.6 billion, while non-oil imports jumped by 49.6 per cent to USD 21.5 billion. The country's trade deficit widened to USD 12.93 billion in July compared to the year-ago period.

More sops for exporters on the cards as Govt mulls sectoral review by December

Exporters might look forward to yet another booster dose from the government after it concludes a sector-wise review by December, said commerce and industry minister Anand Sharma.

At an interaction with some of the chambers of commerce, he said the government would also implement measures to reduce procedural and transaction costs of exports by early October. Challenges remain on container transport under the railways, he said, and on port charges that come under the shipping ministry, which might take some time to address.

The sectoral review would be undertaken in November, with the report in December. This would be done to especially evaluate and analyse the performance of some ailing sectors like handicrafts, carpets, toys and readymade garments, which were given a series of incentives under the annual supplement of the Foreign Trade Policy 2009-2014.

The government had done a couple of similar reviews in 2009-10, too, which induced it to come out with incentives worth Rs 1,050 crore through the FTP announced on Monday, aimed mainly at labour-intensive sectors.

While Sharma sounded confident of achieving exports of $200 billion (Rs 9.34 lakh crore) during the year, he also expressed apprehension over sustaining the growth in the remaining months, saying there would be "bumpy rides". Merchandise exports from India grew by 48 per cent during April-September in 2008, after which it started plummeting due to the slowdown in demand in some significant markets such as the US, Germany, France and Japan, which account for almost 60 per cent of our exports.

The decline in exports was sharpest in May last year, when the fall inched towards 40 per cent year-on-year. However, things started taking a positive turn from October onwards. During the period between October 2009 and March 2010, exports posted a growth rate of 32 per cent, compared to the same period in 2008-09.