Last month's deficit stood at $9.22 billion, the trade ministry said, compared with $10.56 billion in October -- a traditional gold buying season.
India's exports fell 5.12 per cent to $24.89 billion in October, after recording positive growth in September, on account of drop in shipments of petroleum products, gems and jewellery, leather and engineering goods, according to government data released on Friday. Trade deficit in October narrowed to $8.71 billion as against $11.75 billion in the corresponding month a year ago. Imports also fell 11.53 per cent to $33.6 billion (year-on-year) in October 2020.
'The trade deficit in some sectors is huge and that is an area of opportunity to localise.'
India has been struggling to control the current account deficit that hit an all-time high of 6.7 percent of GDP in the December quarter.
The value of the rupee, which has slipped to the 92 per dollar mark, does not accurately reflect India's stellar economic fundamentals, the Economic Survey said on Thursday.
Exports of petroleum products, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, gems and jewellery, and engineering goods registered a positive growth.
Export sectors that showed positive growth last month included chemical, iron ore, electronics, marine products and pharmaceuticals. Decline in overall imports, including oil and gold, led to narrowing of trade deficit.
Gold imports, however, grew 10.47 per cent to $ 2.42 billion in May.
The country's trade deficit widened yet again, to $9.7 billion (Rs 43,500 crore) in October, compared to $9.12 billion in the earlier month. Also, after a span of three to four years, merchandise exports have surpassed the growth rate of imports in the same month.
Imports dropped 13.16 per cent year-on-year
Export sectors that recorded positive growth in the last month include iron ore, electronic goods, spices, and marine products.
Imports reached $488.6 billion, leaving a trade deficit of $184.9 billion, Commerce Secretary Rahul Khullar said in New Delhi on Thursday.
India's exports in January rose 25.28 per cent to $34.50 billion on account of healthy performance by mainly engineering, petroleum and gems and jewellery sectors, even as trade deficit widened to 17.43 billion, according to data released by the commerce ministry on Tuesday. Imports grew by 23.54 per cent to $51.93 billion during the month under review. Trade deficit, difference between imports and exports, stood at $14.50 bn in January 2021.
Trade deficit increased to $17.933 billion during the quarter ended September 2006, according to data released the Reserve Bank of India on Friday.
Trump announced that India and the US agreed to a trade deal under which Washington will charge a reduced reciprocal tariff on Delhi, lowering it from 25 per cent to 18 per cent.
The Indian rupee weakened against the US dollar due to rising crude oil prices, geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, and foreign fund outflows.
Revenue collection next financial year may be affected, and, along with this, subsidies on food and fertilisers can go up if the war in West Asia drags for long, according to experts.
India will now face a lower reciprocal tariff of 10 per cent, down from 25 per cent, after US President Donald Trump announced a new global levy on items imported into America in the wake of the Supreme Court verdict against his sweeping duties on several nations.
The deficit for the month stood at $6.7 billion, the lowest level since March 2011, compared with $10.9 billion in August, the trade ministry said.
The reduction in the goods and services tax (GST) rates has increased the momentum in India's economic activity both on the supply and demand sides, while robust agricultural activity - reflected in the strong onset of rabi sowing and adequate reservoir levels - has reinforced the outlook for food supply and rural incomes, the finance ministry said on Thursday.
In a bid to promote the use of domestic currency for cross-border settlements, the Reserve Bank on Wednesday announced a slew of measures, including allowing banks to lend in Indian Rupees to non-residents from Bhutan, Nepal and Sri Lanka for bilateral trade.
The ceasefire is still technically holding, to the extent that no overt hostilities have been reported yet, but the rhetoric has hardened dangerously. The week ahead will also clarify whether the Islamabad failure was a negotiating tactic or whether Washington has genuinely locked itself into a position from which the only exits are climb-down, escalation, or the slow bleed of a new status quo that nobody chose and nobody controls. Prem Panicker continues his must read blog on the Iran War.
Indians' hunger for gold has made it the second biggest item, after crude oil, in the country's import basket.
Fixed deposits from nationalised banks delivered higher returns than equities, outperforming both inflation and stock market benchmarks.
India's merchandise exports jumped 27.16 per cent to $30.04 billion in November on the back of good performance by sectors like petroleum products, engineering goods and electronic items, official data showed on Tuesday. The exports stood at $23.62 billion in November 2020. Imports in November were at $52.94 billion, showing an increase of 56.58 per cent over inbound shipments of $33.81 billion in the year-ago month.
Exports in January 2014 stood at $26.89 billion.
India's trade deficit increased to $6.20 billion in October, up sharply from $2.93 billion in October 2005 as demand for imports in the world's second-fastest-growing major economy outstripped exports.
In the present hyper-connected world, there are many domestic and global factors that affect financial markets. Of them, the most powerful and often least predictable are geopolitical events, which often boil down to one diplomatic headline.
The benchmark BSE Sensex's trailing 12-month price-to-earnings (P/E) multiple has declined to 20.2x, its lowest since May 2020, driven by a record $42 billion FPI selloff since September 2024 and concerns over corporate earnings and economic growth.
Indian stock market benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty experienced a significant decline, driven by escalating tensions in the Middle East and rising crude oil prices.
India's balance of payments for the first quarter of this fiscal showed a three-fold increase in deficit in trade balance at $15.8 billion against $5.1 billion in the same period last fiscal.
Imports during the first month of the current fiscal aggregated to $37.9 billion, leaving a trade a deficit of $13.4 billion.
'We believe the truth is in the middle, and that India is at an important crossroads.'
Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Friday warned that India's limited crude oil reserves of about 100 million barrels - sufficient for only 40-45 days of consumption - leave the country particularly vulnerable to supply disruptions through the Strait of Hormuz amid the ongoing war in West Asia.
India's major imports from the US include crude oil and petroleum products, gold and jewellery, plastics, aircraft, and electrical machinery and components. The key exports to the US comprise pharmaceuticals and biologicals, telecom equipment, precious and semi-precious stones, petroleum products, gold and precious metal jewellery, and ready-made garments.
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The trade deficit makes up an important part of the current account deficit, which had touched an all-time high of 4.8 per cent in 2012-13.
The rupee slumped 5 per cent in 2025 as persistent capital outflows from foreign investors, alongside heightened dollar demand from importers, making it one of the worst-performing Asian currencies.
The official also advised all the trade partners to abide by the trade deals. The new 10 percent global tariff is part of Trump's protectionist trade agenda, aimed at addressing balance-of-payments issues and unfair trade practices.
It may now be time to question the price India is paying for Israel's disregard of the serious undermining of India's energy security, asserts former foreign secretary Shyam Saran.
The key question is how much of the latest growth record represents recovery from the 2020-2021 downturn, and what is the sustainable growth rate now, asks T N Ninan.
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