India’s total exports likely to surpass $800 billion in coming months: Industry

New Delhi: Driven by the resilient and strong momentum of exports in the current financial year (FY25), industry experts on Friday said they are highly optimistic about India’s total exports surpassing $800 billion in the coming months.

India’s exports accelerated to over $73 billion in October from more than 61 billion in the same month last year, registering above 19 per cent growth.

The cumulative total exports during April-October 2024 grew at above 7 per cent, from $436.4 billion in April-October 2023 to $468.2 billion.

Despite geopolitical headwinds, India’s total exports registered double-digit growth.

“This strong growth is driven by a more than 20 per cent increase in exports of non-petroleum and non-gems and jewellery exports,” said Hemant Jain, President, PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PHDCCI).

India’s merchandise exports alone jumped by a robust 17.25 per cent to $39.20 billion during October, as compared to $33.43 billion during the same month last year, according to data by the Commerce and Industry Ministry.

The cumulative value of merchandise exports during April-October was $252.28 billion, as compared to $244.51 billion in the same period last year.

“Given the resilient and strong momentum of exports in the current financial year, we are highly optimistic that India’s total exports will surpass $800 billion in the coming months,” said Jain.

Non-petroleum exports in October 2024 were valued at $34.61 billion, registering an increase of 25.63 per cent in comparison with the corresponding figure of $27.55 billion for October 2023.

According to Aditi Nayar, Chief Economist and Head-Research and Outreach, ICRA, non-oil merchandise exports registered a jump in both sequential and year-on-year growth, which is an encouraging sign, led by sectors such as electronic goods, engineering goods, chemicals and garments.

“Looking ahead, we expect the current account deficit to ease to 1.2 per cent of GDP in the ongoing quarter from an estimated 1.8 per cent of GDP in Q2 FY25, and settle around 1.0 per cent of GDP for the year as a whole,” said Nayar.