Engineering & Electronic goods boost Indian’s exports to $ 259 in September

Robust growth marks India’s goods export. In September, merchandise exports rose to $14.4 billion. Strong growth over the past few months has pushed up exports in the first half of the year to $259 billion. The growth has been sluggish for several years after the bump during the COVID period. In 2025-26, exports stood at ,$441 billion, up less than 5 per cent from $ 422 billion in 2021-22 financial year . This uptick is welcome. The disaggregated data shows that engineering and electronics goods are among the drivers of this growth. Exports of these segments have together crossed $ 100 billion in the financial year so far, up 26 per cent over the same period last year. This is a stunning performance. The two sectors now account for almost half of all non-oil exports in the year so far. Data also shows that US remains the largest market for Indian exports. Despite the persisting ambiguity over tariffs, exports to America rose to 48 per cent in September. Exports to China also rose at a robust rate and are up 36 per cent in the year so far. However, shipments to the Middle East -countries like UAE and Saudi Arabia- remain depressed. On the other hand, China accounted for the largest share in the country’s import basket. India’s trade deficit with China widened during April-September this year. Ratings agency ICRA expects the current account deficit to increase to $13 to $15 billion during the second quarter “amid a modest expansion in the merchandise trade deficit a d an expected easing in invisible earning”. The currency’s decline is likely to have played a role in increasing export competitiveness. However, the call has also promoted the RBI to announce several .measures and intervene in the forex markets to stem the slide. The RBI has repeatedly said that it intervenes only to contain excess volatility but it should resist targetting any rupee/dollar level. Alongside, the government must continue to push ahead with its reform agenda. In recent years it has entered into several FTAs. But it must move forward on most contentiuous ones as well. It should take steps to boost manufacturing activities and attract more foreign investments.