India's Export Competitiveness
Merchandise vs. Services
India's trade profile shows a structural asymmetry: services exports are globally competitive (India is the world's seventh-largest services exporter), but merchandise export growth has been sluggish. In FY 2024–25, merchandise exports grew only ~0.63% year-on-year while imports grew ~6.37%, widening the goods deficit by ~15%. The services surplus, by contrast, rose from $39.9 billion (Q2 FY24) to $44.5 billion (Q2 FY25). Key merchandise export categories include engineering goods, petroleum products, pharmaceuticals, textiles, and chemicals.
- India's top merchandise export categories: petroleum products, engineering goods, gems and jewellery, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, textiles and apparel.
- Top import categories: crude oil and petroleum products (largest single import), gold, electronic goods, machinery (capital goods), and chemicals.
- India's gold imports contribute significantly to the goods deficit; India imported approximately $14.5 billion in gold in a recent quarter — one of the highest recorded.
- Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) 2023 (released March 2023, replacing FTP 2015-20) — sets the framework for export promotion; target: $2 trillion in exports (goods + services) by 2030.
- Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) under Ministry of Commerce administers export promotion schemes including RoDTEP (Remission of Duties and Taxes on Export Products), replacing MEIS.
● Tracked since February 02, 2026 · last seen May 21, 2026 · updates as the daily brief publishes
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