India reported USD 62.26 billion overall exports for October exhibiting a positive growth of 9.43 per cent on a yearly basis, as per the official data released on Wednesday.

In the overall exports, major contributions were from sectors like drugs and pharmaceuticals, engineering goods, electronic goods, cotton yarn/fabs/made-ups, handloom products, iron ore, ceramic products and glassware and meat, dairy and poultry products, data from Ministry of Commerce and Industry said.

Drugs and pharma exports grew by 29.31 per cent to USD 2.42 billion from USD 1.87 billion in October 2022. Engineering goods exports record a growth of 7.2 pc from USD 7.55 billion in October 2022 to USD 8.09 billion in October 2023.

The data said that electronic goods exports registered a growth of 28.23 pc at USD 2.38 billion during October 2023 as compared to USD 1.85 billion in October 2022.

Agricultural exports continue to grow in October 2023: Cereal preparations and miscellaneous processed items (40.95 pc), oil seeds (29.7 pc), fruits and vegetables (24.48 pc), oil meals (17.32 pc), spices (10.78 pc), coffee (8.45 pc), tea (4.12 pc), and cashew (3.29 pc).

Non-petroleum and non-gems and jewellery exports register an increase by 11.74 pc from USD 21.99 billion in October 2022 to USD 24.57 billion in October 2023.

The data released by the ministry said the overall trade deficit during April-October reduces by 35.86 pc from USD 89.86 billion in 2022 to USD 57.64 billion in 2023. Merchandise trade deficit also improves from USD 167.14 Billion in April-October 2022 to USD 147.07 in April-October 2023.

It is worth highlighting that India’s overall exports in March ended the financial year 2022-2023 were worth USD 775.87 billion, a growth of over 14 pc and almost USD 100 billion more than the last year’s figures.

The Union Government has taken various steps in terms of production and exports penetration such as launching the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme in varied sectors, including electronic goods.

It has made Indian manufacturers globally competitive, attract investments, enhance exports, integrate India into the global supply chain and reduce dependency on imports.