India exceeded the export target for 2007-08 by $3 billion achieving an overall growth rate of about 29 per cent, appreciation of rupee notwithstanding.
"Exports reached a level of $162.9 billion during 2007-08, registering a growth of 29.02 per cent over the same period last year," according to the final figures released by the directorate general of commercial intelligence and statistics.
The export target for the fiscal 2007-08 was $160 billion. In the same period, the domestic currency appreciated by about 8 per cent, eroding the profit margins of exporters.
In rupee terms, the shipments for the period recorded a growth of 14.7 per cent to Rs 6,55,864 crore (Rs 6,558.64 billion) compared to Rs 5,71,779 crore (Rs 5,717.79 billion) last fiscal, it said.
The major sectors which drove the exports during the period were engineering goods, petroleum products, gems and jewellery, agriculture and allied products and ores and minerals, it said.
Exports of textiles, handicrafts and sports goods, which were badly hit during 2006-07 due to appreciation of rupee vis-a-vis dollar since September 2006, showed improvement in their performance during the year, it added.
The country's export for the first five months of the current fiscal grew by 35.1 per cent to $81.2 billion from that of $60 billion corresponding period previous year.