According to a top official of a grouping of exporters, India’s exports of products and services could reach $900 billion in the current fiscal year, up from $770 billion the year before. This indicates that the country is remaining resilient despite global challenges.
Ajay Sahai, director general of the Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO), predicted that merchandise exports might reach between $495 billion and $500 billion and services exports could reach $400 billion in the fiscal year ending in March 2024.
“In many markets, the demand from abroad is still high,” he added.
However, Piyush Goyal, the minister of trade, urged exporters to look into new markets due to the potential effects of the Ukrainian conflict and a global slowdown.
Goyal warned of the consequences of the battle when speaking at an industry gathering late on Wednesday. The times ahead will be extremely difficult, he continued.
The administration of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has set an export goal of $2 trillion by 2030 and is providing incentives to encourage the sale of goods including Indian electronics, engineering, pharmaceuticals, and other items. Over the past two years, India’s exports have increased by more than $200 billion, primarily due to a surge in the export of software, mobile devices, agricultural goods, and petroleum products.
However, in recent months, the export of goods related to engineering, gems, and jewellery has slowed.
Due to pricing issues, exports of electronics, petroleum, and agricultural products have remained robust in Western markets while shipments to Asian and Middle Eastern nations have increased significantly, according to exporters.
Sahai, who was a member of a 50-person business delegation to Russia last week, claimed that once Western sanctions were put in place because of the Ukraine crisis, there was a big demand for Indian commodities, notably food.
In order to facilitate the exports of Indian goods to Russia, Sahai remarked that “Indian exporters are hopeful that both countries will soon work out a mechanism allowing payments in local currencies.”
Officials from India, meanwhile, have claimed that Russia was hesitant to accept rupee payments for its oil supplies.
India has urged communication to end hostilities but has not expressly denounced Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Also in April, Russia remained India’s top supplier of crude oil. Although a steady increase month over month fueled speculation that imports from the country may peak in May, India’s oil imports from Russia are anticipated to peak in May, increasing its market share to 36%. Chinese oil competition is blamed for that.
