India’s exports marginally declined 0.25 per cent to USD 27.67 billion in February while imports grew by 6.98 per cent to USD 40.55 billion during the month, according to provisional data released by the commerce ministry on Tuesday. The trade deficit widened to USD 12.88 billion in February as compared to USD 10.16 billion in the year-ago period, the ministry said in a statement.
The exports during April-February 2020-21 period stood at USD 255.92 billion. In the same period a year ago, it was at USD 291.87 billion, showing negative growth of 12.32 per cent. Imports during the April-February period too dipped 23 per cent to USD 340.88 billion.
In February, oil imports declined 16.63 per cent to USD USD 8.99 billion. It was down 40.18 per cent to USD 72.08 billion during the 11-month period of the current fiscal. Major commodities of export that recorded positive growth in February include oil meals, iron ore, rice, meat, dairy and poultry products, carpet, spices, pharmaceuticals, and chemicals.
Many export commodities recorded negative growth during the same period. They are petroleum products (-27.13 per cent), leather (-21.62 per cent), cashew (-18.6 per cent), gems and jewellery (-11.18 per cent), engineering goods (-2.56 per cent), tea (-2.49 per cent) and coffee (-0.73 per cent).