Helped by a demand pick-up in the western economies, India's exports grew by 26.5 per cent year-on-year to $18.8 billion in November, raising expectations of exports going well beyond the target of $200 billion in the current fiscal.
In November 2009, exports stood at $14.9 billion.
During April-November 2010, the outbound shipments increased by 26.7 per cent to $140.2 billion compared to $110.6 billion in the year-ago period.
Imports too rose by 11.2 per cent in November to $27.7 billion, leaving a trade gap of $ 8.9 billion, according to the data released by the Commerce Ministry on Monday.
Imports during the first eight months of this fiscal stood at $221.9 billion, an increase on 23.9 per cent, over $179 billion in the corresponding period last year.
During the period, the trade deficit stood at $81.6 billion and is expected to be in the range of $120-125 billion.
The country's apex exporters body FIEO said that the exports may touch $220 billion, sharing the optimism of the Commerce Ministry.
A senior official has projected the country's exports in the range of $210-215 billion.
"Exports may reach the new milestone of $220 billion this fiscal," Federation of Indian Export Organisations president Ramu Deora said.
Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry's director general Rajiv Kumar said, "I suppose touching $215 billion would be possible as there are four months to go and we can export goods worth $75 billion. I think it should be achievable."
Pick up in the US market would boost demand which is already high in Asia, he said.
The government had fixed an export target of $200 billion during 2010-11.
In 2009-10, the exports had declined by 4.7 per cent to $176.5