New Delhi: An upbeat commerce minister Kamal Nath has announced in a statement that India''s exports have grown 41.2 per cent in September, to $10.3 billon, the second successive month that they have done so in 2006-07. For the same period last year, exports had shown a rise of $7.29 billion dollars.

As per provisional data released by the government today, cumulative exports in the period April-September 2006-07 rose 37 per cent to $59.32 billion as against $43.22 billion in the corresponding period last fiscal.

Imports, for the country, however rose at a faster rate of 49 per cent to $15.63 billion in September. The comparable figures for September 2005 was $10.48 billion.

The overall trade deficit for the country widened by 21 per cent to $24.6 per billion for the first six months of the fiscal, as compared to $20.326 billion for the comparable period of 2005-06. Total imports in the current fiscal have increased 32.06 per cent, at $83.92 billion, as against $63.55 billion in April-September 2005-06.

Nath said that the sustained double-digit growth showed India''s exports were on a high growth trajectory and that the country would definitely meet the enhanced export target of $125 billion for 2006-07.

All figures from the year ago period are revised, while the current data is provisional and liable to be revised.