India’s H1 trade deficit down 37.26% as exports gain in Sept

India's trade deficit declined by 37.26 per cent to $43.01 billion in the first six months of the current fiscal (April-September 2016-17), from levels of $68.55 billion in April-September 2016-17, on the back of a revival in exports and decline in imports.

Merchandise exports from the country during September 2016 stood at $22.88 billion (Rs152,699.59 crore), showing a growth of 4.62 per cent in dollar terms and a 5.45 per cent growth in rupee terms compared to exports worth $21.87 billion (Rs144,814.06 crore) during September 2015.

Cumulative exports for the April-September 2016-17 period stood at $131.40 billion (Rs879,475.63 crore) against $133.72 billion (Rs858,622.52 crore), registering a negative growth of 1.74 per cent in dollar terms and a positive growth of 2.43 per cent in rupee terms compared to exports during the comparable period in the previous year.

Non-petroleum exports in September 2016 stood at $20.33 billion against $19.28 billion in September 2015, an increase of 5.44 per cent year-on-year. Non-petroleum exports during April-September 2016-17 are valued at $117.31 billion compared to $116.77 billion during the corresponding period in 2015, an increase of 0.47 per cent.

Imports during September 2016 were valued at $31.22 billion (Rs208,356.00 crore), which was 2.54 per cent lower in dollar terms and 1.78 per cent lower in rupee terms over the level of imports valued at $32.04 billion (Rs212,130.85) in September 2015.

Cumulative value of imports for the April-September 2016-17 period stood at $174.41 billion (Rs11,67,458.25 crore) against $202.27 billion (Rs12,98,646.11 crore), registering a negative growth of 13.77 per cent in dollar terms and 10.10 per cent fall in rupee terms over the same period last year.

Oil imports during September 2016 were valued at $6.89 billion, which was 3.13 per cent higher than oil imports valued at $6.68 billion in the corresponding period last year.

Oil imports during April-September 2016-17 were valued at $39.30 billion, which was 18.59 per cent lower than oil imports worth $48.27 billion in the corresponding period last year.

Non-oil imports during September2016 were estimated at $24.33 billion, which was 4.04 per cent lower than non-oil imports worth $25.36 billion in September 2015.

Non-oil imports during April-September 2016-17 were valued at $135.11 billion, which was 12.26 per cent lower than the level of such imports valued at $154.00 in April-September 2015-16.