Goods exports up 9%, trade deficit widens

NEW DELHI: India’s goods exports rose 9.1%, the fastest pace in six months, to $38.5 billion in April, while the trade deficit widened to $26.4 billion, the highest since last Nov. Latest data released by the commerce department pegged imports at $64.9 billion in April, which was 19% higher than the corresponding period last year.“We have opened this year with a bang… I hope India will maintain this export momentum and it should be a good year despite global uncertainties,” commerce secretary Sunil Barthwal said.A part of the increase in exports may have been driven by front-loading of shipments to the US ahead of the deadline for reciprocal tariffs that kicked in on April 9, only to be paused for 90 days.Shipments to the US went up 27% to $8.4 billion, the latest numbers showed.Overall, electronics exports, a large part of which is through air cargo, shot up nearly 40% to $3.7 billion. Engineering goods, the largest item in India’s export basket, rose over 11% to $9.5 billion, while petroleum products (the second biggest group) were 4.7% higher at $7.4 billion.Some shipments into the country were also advanced, pushing up imports.“The merchandise trade deficit in April 2025 exceeded our expectations despite a healthy growth in exports, partly on account of a front-loading of crude oil imports amid softer prices, as well as a sharp increase in electronics,” said Aditi Nayar, chief economist at ratings agency ICRA.Petroleum imports soared 25.6% to $20.7 billion, while chemical material more than doubled to $2 billion. Import consignments of metalliferous ores and other minerals zoomed 77% to go past the $1 billion mark in April and non-ferrous metal imports were 30% higher at $2.3 billion. Electronics shipments are estimated to have increased 31% to $9.5 billion.Gold imports were estimated to be 4.9% higher at $3.1 billion.China cemented its position as the top source of imports with a 27% increase to $9.9 billion in April, although Russia just about managed to stay at the second spot with overall shipments valued 18% higher at $6.2 billion. UAE, with an 89% jump, was just $540,000 short of Russia’s level. Imports from the US were also up 64% to $5.4 billion.