Exports from top five sectors down 25% in August

Exports of engineering, petroleum, gem and jewellery, textile and pharmaceutical products, which constitute India's top five export sectors, shrank about 25 per cent to $13.33 billion in August as global demand for India's exports continued to fall.

Merchandise exports from these sectors stood at $17.79 billion in August last year.

These five sectors accounted for about 65 per cent of the country's total merchandise exports in 2014-15 and the current decline in India's exports is due mainly to the decline in exports from these sectors, according to the Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO).

Export of engineering, petroleum and textile products registered negative growth, gems and jewellery and pharmaceuticals exports recorded marginal growth of 2.66 per cent and 6 per cent, respectively during the month, provision data released by the commerce ministry showed.

Exports from these sectors accounted for $202.15 billion of India's aggregate exports of $310.5 billion in 2014-15, according to FIEO.

These are labour intensive sectors and government should announce steps to contain the dip in outbound shipments, FIEO stated in a release.

Commerce ministry has called a meeting of exporters on 7 October to review the situation and discuss ways to contain fall in the outbound shipments.

India has aimed at taking exports of goods and services to $900 billion by 2020 and raising the country's share in world exports to 3.5 per cent from 2 per cent.

The total exports in the past four financial years have been hovering at around $300 billion.

The continuous decline in exports is expected to impact jobs and put pressure on the current account deficit.