India has met the annual export target for the first time ever. The country crossed the crucial threshold of the $400 billion annual merchandise export target.
In this regard, PM Narendra Modi tweeted, ━ “India set an ambitious goods export target of $400 billion and achieved it for the first time ever. I congratulate our farmers, weavers, MSMEs, manufacturers, and exporters for this success.”
The target was achieved nine days ahead of schedule, following $33 billion worth of exports every month, $1 billion every day, and $46 million worth every hour of the year, according to PM’s tweet.
Further details are yet to be released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, but available data shows that cumulative exports had grown by 45.8% in April-February FY22 as compared to the same period of FY20. The total exports stood at $375 billion till February, which was $256.5 billion in 2019-20.
After FY21, marked by lockdown and restrictions, exports had started rising at the end of the year. In the current financial year 2022, they have risen every month till February. Only the last two months had seen the economic downturn. All major categories of exports have seen consistent growth this financial year.
What Made India Meeting Annual Export Target?
Financial Year 2021-2022 adds different sorts of challenges in terms of exports. Despite, all the ups and downs, India not just achieved but exceed its annual export target. But what made it possible to meet the export target this year? A global super-cycle kept the commodity prices high across the board throughout 2021, which contributed massively to reaching $400 billion exports in FY22.
The largest export item on the list of commodities is processed petroleum, which alone has a 15% share in the country’s overall export. Processed petroleum exports doubled in the first ten months of FY22 that earned $50.2 billion compared to FY21, which was $25.3 billion.
This was due to the continuous rise in the price of crude oil, pushed up by uncertainties in the post-COVID world, demand for oil, and lastly, the Russia-Ukraine war, The price of crude oil was $64.8/bbl at the beginning of the year which is reached to $110 per barrel now.
Besides this, gems and jewellery are the second-largest export in India which also contributed to this milestone. In addition to this, chemicals, plastic, steel, Agri export, which grew at a brisk 24% in the current financial year, also boosted the earnings.
Overall, India’s exports cover a vast area involving machine equipment, electronics and many other items.
