Exports rise 80% in May 1st week

New Delhi CONTINUING a positive growth, India's exports grew by 80 per cent to $7.04 billion during the first week of this month, according to preliminary data of the commerce ministry.

Exports during May 1-7 last year stood at $3.91 billion and $6.48 billion in the same week of May 2019, data showed. Imports too rose by 80.7 per cent to $8.86 billion during May 1-7, 2021 as against $4.91 billion in the same period last year and $10.39 billion in 2019. India's exports in April jumped nearly three-folds to $30.21 billion from $10.17 billion in the same month last year. Major export commodities that are recording healthy growth include gems and jewellery, jute, carpet, handicrafts, leather, electronic goods, oil meals, cashew, engineering, petroleum products, marine products and chemicals. Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) President SK Saraf said, "the exports growth is encouraging and order books of exporters are healthy." "I will urge the government to look into the issues of MEIS (merchandise export from India scheme). RoDTEP (remission of duties and taxes on export products) rates should be announced immediately to further push the shipments as profitability of exporters are getting impacted," Saraf observed.