Exports rise by 23.69% to $34 bn in Jan; trade deficit widens to $17.94 bn

New Delhi: The country's exports rose by 23.69 per cent to $34.06 billion in January on healthy performance by engineering, petroleum and gems and jewellery segments even as trade deficit widened to $17.94 billion during the month, according to provisional data of the commerce ministry.

Imports in January grew by 23.74 per cent to $52.01 billion, the data, released on Tuesday, showed. Trade deficit widened to $17.94 billion during the month as against $14.49 billion in the same month last year.

Cumulatively, exports during April-January 2021-22 rose by 46.53 per cent to $335.44 billion as against $228.9 billion in the same period last year. Imports during the period jumped by 62.68 per cent to $495.83 billion.

Trade deficit, difference between imports and exports, stood at $160.38 billion during the ten months period of this fiscal as compared to $75.87 billion in April-January 2020.

According to the data, gold imports in January dipped by 40.42 per cent to $2.4 billion. Crude oil imports rose by 21.3 per cent to $11.43 billion in January.

Engineering exports rose by 24.13 per cent to $9.2 billion, petroleum by 74.73 per cent to $3.73 billion and gems and jewellery by 13.83 per cent to $3.23 billion.

Pharmaceuticals exports, however, dipped by 1 per cent to $2.05 billion in January.

Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) Vice President Khalid Khan said that going by the current rate of growth, India will achieve $400 billion exports target for this fiscal.

FIEO President A Sakthivel said that the additional budget for the Interest Equalization Scheme for 2021-22 and provision of Rs 2,621.50 crore for 2022-23 have provided assurance on the continuance of the scheme and "we are expecting a suitable announcement in this regard".