New Delhi, Sept. 15 -- India's merchandise exports surged 26.12 per cent to $43.81 billion in August, driven by a rise in electronics, engineering & petroleum product shipments, while a dip in gold imports helped narrow the trade deficit to a five-month low of $26.86 billion.
Imports rose by 14.1 per cent year-on-year to $70.76 billion in August due to growth in sectors such as crude oil, project goods, electronic items, silver, coal and coke. Gold imports fell 57.75 per cent to $2.3 billion in August.
The growth in exports in August was the highest since June 2022, when shipments had risen 30.12 per cent.
Exports of electronics, engineering and petroleum products rose by 90 per cent, 25 per cent and 63.27 per cent, respectively.
During April-August this fiscal, exports jumped 17.85 per cent year-on-year to $215.91 billion, and imports climbed 18.21 per cent to $363 billion.
Merchandise trade deficit during the first five months of this fiscal year widened to $147.09 billion as compared to $123.88 billion during April-August 2025-26. In August last year, the deficit was $27.22 billion. In July, it was $31.98 billion. The previous low level of trade gap was $20.67 billion in March.
Briefing the media on the latest trade data, Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agarwal said the good momentum of export growth is continuing and is, rather, building up also.
He said higher imports during the first five months of 2026-27 are being propelled by strong domestic economic expansion, rising energy requirements and the critical inputs needed to sustain the rapid growth of the manufacturing sector. It has also pushed the trade deficit.
The major drivers of the trade deficit have been energy items like petroleum, crude and coal, coke and briquettes, and electronic goods. On the exports front, he said a mix of commodities helped push the growth, and that included engineering goods, petroleum products, chemicals and textiles.
"At the same time, major demand has come from the US, EU, BRICS nations and emerging economies. So this also underscores India's expanding global footprint and improves our resilience, diversification and strategic trade integration objectives," he said.
In August, crude oil imports rose 37.28 per cent to about $16 billion. During April-August 2026-27, crude oil imports rose to $95.57 billion from $78.07 billion in the same period last year. Electronic goods imports also increased to $66.48 billion from $46.31 billion during April-August FY26.
On the export front, petroleum products' shipment jumped to $35.31 billion during April-August FY27 from $25.32 billion in the same period last year.
Electronics & project goods imports grew by 53.27 per cent to $13 billion, and by 377.71 per cent to $960.78 million, respectively, in August.
Meanwhile, as per government estimates, services exports stood at $38.87 billion in August, and imports were at $21.42 billion.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.