India’s total exports, including textiles and services, reached US$73.21 billion in October 2024, showing a year-on-year growth of 19.07 per cent, according to data released by the Ministry of Commerce on Thursday. In October of last year, this figure amounted to $61.48 billion. During the month, textile exports rose from $33.43 billion to $39.2 billion, while services exports rose from $28.05 billion to $34.02 billion. India’s total exports from April to October 2024-25 stood at $468.27 billion, up 7.28 percent from the same period last year. The government has expressed hope of reaching the export target of $800 billion this year.
According to today’s data, India’s total imports in October also increased compared to last year. The same situation also occurred in September. Imports, which include both goods and services, rose to $83.33 billion in October from $77.33 billion. Thus, the trade deficit, which reflects the difference between exports and imports, increased from $60.02 billion to $63.24 billion, an increase of 5.36 percent.
In this regard, Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal said: “It has been a very successful month for us. Not only have our exports grown significantly, but exports from April to October have been the largest non-oil exports this country has ever seen. “We have managed to break all records.”
In the last financial year 2023-24, India recorded record exports of $778 billion. In 2022-23 this figure was $776.3 billion. According to the division, services exports increased from $325.3 billion to $341.1 billion, while merchandise exports decreased from $451.1 billion to $437.1 billion. The overall trade deficit decreased from $121.6 billion in 2022-23 to $75.6 billion in 2023-24.
Measures taken by the government include production-linked incentive (PLI) schemes in various sectors, such as electronics, to enable Indian manufacturers to become globally competitive, attract investments, increase exports and reduce dependence on imports. Along with this, efforts are also being made to integrate India into the global supply chain.
