With the addition of these two ports, the number of ports permitted for exports to the Maldives has gone to six. “Kandla and Vishakhapatnam Customs Sea ports have been added to the list of ports allowed for export of essential commodities, which are under the prohibited/restricted category, to the Maldives for the fiscal year 2024- 25,” the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) said in a notification.
The bilateral trade between India and the Maldives increased marginally to USD 978.56 million in 2023-24 from USD 973.37 million in 2022-23. India’s exports have risen to USD 892 million in the last fiscal from USD 476.75 million in 2022-23.
Indian imports from the Maldives primarily comprise scrap metals while Indian exports include a variety of engineering and industrial products like drugs and pharmaceuticals, radar apparatus, rock boulders, aggregates, cement and agricultural produce like rice, spices, fruits, vegetables and poultry produce.