Indian exports are at record highs amid war in Ukraine

Indian exports are at record highs amid war in Ukraine
FILE PHOTO: Ears of wheat are seen in a field near the village of Hrebeni in Kyiv region, Ukraine July 17, 2020. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko/File Photo

According to provisional trade data, India’s exports for the financial year 2021/22 ending in March are looking hot, reaching a record high of US$418 billion for merchandise exports. According to the figures, a lot of the growth was from petroleum products, engineering products, jewelry and chemicals. It’s also been picking up some of the slack that has been left in the wheat market since Ukraine usually would be a major exporter there.

It’s mostly good news, except some people say that there might be trouble down the road since there’s a growing gap between exports and imports from the country.

Key comments:

“Exports of goods from India reached $417.8 billion in the current fiscal year. This figure excludes figures from non-EDI Ports and adds that India is likely to exceed an all-time high of US$418 billion in export history,” said the Minister of Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal. “Despite the challenges posed by the successive waves of COVID, India’s merchandise trade performance has grown impressively, and exports remained above US$30 billion for 12 consecutive months from April 2021 to March 2022.”

“We will continue to export wheat in a big way to meet the needs of the countries which are not getting their supplies from the conflict area,” said Goyal, referring to the war in Ukraine.