India's Trade Deficit Narrows To 11-Month Low At $15.6 Billion In March

India's merchandise trade deficit eased in March as decline in imports outpaced fall in exports.

In absolute terms, the trade gap widened to $15.6 billion in March as compared with $18.7 billion in February, according to a press briefing by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

• Exports fell 0.7% annually to $41.7 billion.

• Imports declined 6% annually to $57.3 billion.

• Exports rose 0.7% month-on-month from February.

• Imports fell 4.7% month-on-month from February.

This is expected to augur well for the current account number in Q4 FY24, which may witness a small, transient surplus of about $1-2 billion in the quarter, said Aditi Nayar, chief economist at ICRA.

Gold imports fell by 53.6% in March from a year ago, amid a sharp escalation in prices.

• Exports of engineering goods stood at $11.28 billion, 10.7% higher year-on-year.

• Petroleum product exports were at $5.4 billion, 35.4% lower than a year earlier.

• Gems and jewellery exports were at $2.6 billion, 4.6% lower on an annual basis.

• Organic and inorganic chemical exports were at $3.8 billion, 39.7% lower on an annual basis.

• Drugs and pharmaceutical exports were at $2.8 billion, 12.7% higher from over a year earlier.

• Electronic exports were at $3.5 billion, 23.1% higher from over a year earlier.

• Petroleum, crude, and product imports were down 4.4% from a year ago at $17.2 billion.

• Organic and inorganic chemical imports were at $2.1 billion, 19.3% lower on an annual basis.

• Imports of coal, coke, and briquettes were down 4.8% than a year ago at $3.5 billion.

• Imports of electronic goods were at $7.5 billion, 5% higher over a year earlier. 

• Machinery, electrical and non-electrical goods were at $4.2 billion, up 1% over the previous year.  

• Gold imports stood at $1.5 billion, 53.6% higher than a year ago.

For the full fiscal, merchandise exports tumbled by 3.1%, while imports fell by 5.4%. Services exports rose by 4.4%, while imports declined by 2.5%.

This year was a difficult year from a trade perspective, Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal said in the press briefing. "We are looking at an upcycle in growth figures," he said, adding that as global trade looks up, India's international trade is expected to benefit.

The impact of the Iran-Israel conflict on Indian trade is being observed and remains to be seen, the Commerce Secretary said. "We are diversifying our exports to ensure regional conflicts don’t affect our exports," he said.