India’s share in global merchandise exports rose from 0.9% in 2005 to 1.8% in 2023, while its share in services exports more than doubled from 2% to 4.3 %
Our Bureau
New Delhi
India is enhancing trade through FTA agreements and leveraging them to ensure certainty in market access, non-discriminatory treatment and a transparent and objective regulatory environment for services exports.
Trade agreements and forays in the new markets have contributed to robust export growth in 2024, according to Year End Review of the Department of Commerce.
India has bilateral trade agreements, including Trade in Services, with Singapore, South Korea, Japan, Malaysia, Mauritius, UAE, Australia and an FTA in services and investment with the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN). The India- EFTA Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (TEPA) was signed in March 2024.
India is engaged in FTA negotiations including in Trade in Services with the UK, the EU, Oman, Peru, and Sri Lanka. India is also engaged in negotiations on a Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) with Australia building upon the market access commitments in Trade in Services under India- Australia Economic Cooperation Trade Agreement (ECTA).
“India is leveraging its FTA engagements to achieve these goals by ensuring certainty in market access, non-discriminatory treatment and a transparent and objective regulatory environment, for our Services exports,” an official release said.
Apart from the above trade agreements, India has initiated various other bilateral and multilateral trade agreements in goods and services with various countries and associations.
Discussions were held on concluding the ASEAN India Trade in Goods Agreement (AITIGA) Review negotiations by 2025.
India’s total exports during April-October 2024 exhibited a positive growth of 7.3 percent. Total exports (merchandise and services) during April-October 2024 stood at USD 468.5 billion as compared to USD 436.5 billion during April-October 2023.
Total imports (merchandise and services) during April-October 2024 stood at USD 531.6 billion as compared to USD 496.5 billion in April-October 2023, registering a growth of 7.1 percent.
Agriculture, engineering, electronics, drugs and pharmaceuticals were among sectors that showed healthy growth in exports.
India has strengthened its leadership in traditional exports with labor-intensive sectors while expanding into new areas. During April-October 2024 the agricultural and allied products exports were USD 27.84 billion as compared to USD 26.90 billion in April-October 2023.
Basmati rice exports increased from USD 4.8 billion to USD 5.8 billion, and non-basmati rice exports from USD 2.9 billion to USD 4.6 billion. In April-October 2024, the exports of basmati rice were USD 3.38 billion as compared to April-October 2023 when they were USD 2.96 billion, registering a growth of 14.28 per cent.
Meanwhile, India’s contribution to global trade has seen significant growth over the last two decades, with its share in both exports and imports doubling during this period, according to a report by the National Stock Exchange (NSE).
The report revealed that India’s share in global merchandise exports rose from 0.9 per cent in 2005 to 1.8 per cent in 2023, while its share in services exports more than doubled from 2 per cent to 4.3 per cent.
Overall, India’s export share grew from 1.2 per cent in 2005 to 2.4 per cent in 2023. This growth has been driven by factors such as robust trade agreements, a diversified export portfolio, improved logistics infrastructure, and government initiatives like the Make in India campaign and the Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme.
It also said “India’s performance in services exports better than goods: India ranks 16th globally in merchandise exports and the seventh in services exports
India’s defense exports touch new high
India’s defense exports continue to rise touching a record Rs 21,083 crore (about USD 2.63 billion) in the FY2023-24, a growth of 32.5 per cent over the previous fiscal when the figure was Rs 15,920 crore.
The figures indicated that the exports grew by 31 times in the last 10 years as compared to FY 2013-14.
“The defense industry, including the private sector and DPSUs (Defense Public Sector Undetakings), have made tremendous efforts in achieving the highest-ever exports. The private sector and DPSUs contributed about 60 per cent and 40 per cent respectively,” the Defense Ministry said in its year-end review 2024.
It said that Defense Minister Rajnath Singh has exuded confidence that the target to export defense equipment worth Rs 50,000 crore by 2029 will be met.
The release said that to boost Aatmanirbharta in defense and minimize imports by DPSUs, the Department of Defense Production in July notified the fifth Positive Indigenization List (PIL) consisting of 346 items.
The five lists for DPSUs are in addition to the five PILs of 509 items notified by the Department of Military Affairs. These lists include highly complex systems, sensors, weapons and ammunition.
The release said the Defense Ministry achieved the highest-ever growth in Indigenous defense production in value terms during 2023-24, on the back of the successful implementation of the policies and initiatives of the government.
