India clocks record exports at $400bn

New Delhi: Hailing the country's success in achieving its goods export target of $400 billion this fiscal, Prime Minister Narendra Modi asserted on Wednesday that this is a key milestone in India's 'Aatmanirbhar Bharat' journey. The highest ever goods export target was achieved nine days ahead of the March 31 deadline. Exports increased by 37 per cent to $400 billion during April-March 22, 2021-22 against $292 billion in 2020-21. For the first time ever, India's merchandise exports have crossed $400 billion in a fiscal. In 2018-19, the outbound shipments had touched a record of $330.07 billion. "India set an ambitious target of $400 billion of goods exports and achieves this target for the first time ever. I congratulate our farmers, weavers, MSMEs, manufacturers, exporters for this success. This is a key milestone in our Aatmanirbhar Bharat journey. #LocalGoesGlobal," Modi tweeted.

He also posted graphics of India achieving the highest-ever export target. According to those graphics, the government approach with closer interaction with states and districts; engagement with exporters and faster resolution of their issues; and actively engaging with different export promotion councils, industry associations and other stakeholders have helped in reaching this milestone. On average, goods worth about $33 billion were shipped every month and about $1 billion every day. The key export sectors, which contributed to record healthy growth include petroleum products, electronic goods, engineering goods, leather, coffee, plastic, ready-made garments of all textiles, meat and dairy products, marine products and tobacco.

Commenting on the data, Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) Director General Ajay Sahai said crossing $400 billion is a remarkable achievement as exporters have added over $110 billion in one year to reach here despite huge logistics challenges, including container shortage, skyrocketing freight and liquidity constraints.