Helped by a demand pick-up in the western economies,India’s exports grew by 26.5 pc year-on-year to USD 18.8 bn in Nov, raising expectations of exports going well beyond the target of USD 200 billion in the current fiscal.

In November 2009, exports stood at USD 14.9 billion. During April-November 2010, the outbound shipments increased by 26.7 percent to USD 140.2 billion compared to USD 110.6 billion in the year-ago period.

Imports too rose by 11.2 percent in November to USD 27.7 billion, leaving a trade gap of USD 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 USD 221.9 billion, an increase on 23.9 percent, over USD 179 billion in the corresponding period last year.

During the period, the trade deficit stood at USD 81.6 billion and is expected to be in the range of USD 120-125 billion.

The country’s apex exporters body FIEO said that the exports may touch USD 220 billion, sharing the optimism of the Commerce Ministry.

A senior official has projected the country’s exports in the range of USD 210-215 billion.

“Exports may reach the new milestone of USD 220 billion this fiscal,” Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) President Ramu Deora said.

Ficci’s Director General Rajiv Kumar said, “I suppose touching USD 215 billion would be possible as there are four months to go and we can export goods worth USD 75 billion. I think it should be achievable.” He said pick up in the US market would boost demand which is already high in Asia.

The government had fixed an export target of USD 200 billion during 2010-11. In 2009-10, the exports had declined by 4.7 percent to USD 176.5 billion under the impact of global slowdown.

However, widening of trade gap has raised concerns. “The continuous increase in the trade deficit is a worrying issue. The government should devise a strategy to reduce the trade deficit,” Deora said.

According to Kumar, hardening of crude oil prices has led to the increase in trade deficit.

“I think the country’s trade deficit will be larger than before. Increasing trade deficit is a cause of concern…I think the hardening crude oil prices have increased the imports bill,” he said.

According to the Commerce Ministry data, oil imports during November 2010 increased by 2.31 percent to USD 7.7 billion compared to USD 7.5 billion in the corresponding period last year.

During April-November 2010-11, oil imports rose by 21.4 percent to USD 64.8 billion from USD 53.4 billion in the year ago period.

Non-oil imports during the month grew by 15 percent to USD 20.07 billion from USD 17.44 billion in November 2009.

During the first eight months of this fiscal, non-oil imports too went up by 25 percent to USD 157.11 billion from USD 125.64 billion in the same period last fiscal.

Exports sectors, which performed well during April- November period, include engineering goods, petroleum and refinery items and cotton yarn.

The government is preparing a strategy paper to double the country’s exports by 2014 with the help of leading industrialists and bankers.