Exporters in doubt amid recession clouds over EU

New Delhi: Exporters are keeping their fingers crossed due to "visible" recessionary trends in the European Union as it could affect demand for domestic goods in that market in the coming months. The EU is one of major export destinations for India, accounting for about 15 per cent of country's total outbound shipments.

"There are visible symptoms of recession in the EU. Energy crisis is looming there. Buyers are delaying orders from India. They are concerned but hopeful," Federation of Indian Export Organisations Director General Ajay Sahai said. He, however, added that the situation in the EU provides an opportunity for to enhance efforts to boost exports to countries like Russia.

"Sanction of Russia gives us an opportunity to tap that market," Sahai said, expressing confidence that India's total merchandise exports would reach $470 billion in 2022-23 as against $420 billion in 2021-22.

Biswajit Dhar, a professor of economics at Jawaharlal Nehru University, said the government should rework its strategy on the export front as the EU situation is not good. "It is not just an energy crisis, it is a larger problem of slowing down of the economies in EU countries. That should be a source of concern for us. If major markets like the EU face such recessionary tendencies, our exports could actually suffer," Dhar said.