Author: Report PTI
Publication: The Free Press Journal
Date: April 29, 2003
India's exports, for the first time,
crossed $ 51 billion mark in 2002-2003 increasing the possibility of achieving
the one per cent share of the world trade much ahead of the targeted 2007,
reports PTI.
Releasing trade figures, Commerce
Minister Arun Jaitley on Monday said exports touched $ 51.7 billion, recording
18.05 per cent growth in 2002-03 over $43,8 billion in the previous year.
The trade deficit, however worsened
to $ 7.6 billion in 2002-03 as compared to $ 6.9 billion in the previous
year, mainly on account of high oil import bill.
Citing the 18.05 per cent rise in
exports, Jaitley said, with this India share in the world exports in merchandise
goods has increased from 0.4 per cent in 1992-93 to 0.7 per cent in 2001-02
and 0.8 per cent in 2003.
"If the present trend is maintained,
we might even reach one per cent share in world exports before the target
year of 2007," he said.
This achievement has come at a time
when the world economy was struggling to revive and many of the developed
countries had found it difficult to achieve the growth in their exports,
he added.
He said US' exports dipped by five
per cent and Canada by three per cent. While Indonesia recorded zero per
cent, UK posted one per cent and Japan and Singapore three per cent each.
Jaitley said the achievement in
merchandise export implied that it had more than doubled in dollar terms
in the last 10 years and trebled in rupee terms.
India's imports was valued at %
59.3 billion in 2002-03, recording 17.03 per cent over $ 50.7 billion in
the previous year due to 26.77 per cent hike in oil import bill.
The country's oil imports amounted
to $ 17.7 billion in 2002003 as compared to 14.01 billion in the
previous year. While India's exports in March alone stood at $4.7
billion (15.28 per cent growth), the imports were valued at $5. Billion
(26.1 per cent growth).
India's exports registered the maximum
growth to China at 96 per cent, followed by Singapore (59 per cent), UAE
(33 per cent), US (29 per cent), Japan (24 per cent) and EU (15 per cent).
According the export basket,
iron ore registered 112.9 per cent, followed by rice (47.6 per cent), handicrafts
(26 per cent), mica, coal and coke (24.9 per cent, man-made yarn and engineering
products (24 per cent each), gems and jewellery (over 18 per cent and marine
products (13.1 per cent).
