India's October trade deficit hits a 3-year high of $14.02 billion

India's trade deficit widened to $14.02 billion in October, the highest for any month in three years, against a low of $8.98 billion in September, official figures released today showed.

With this, overall merchandise trade deficit of the country for the first seven months of the fiscal (April- October 2017-18) is estimated to have reached $86.32 billion.

India's trade deficit during the September 2017 stood at 8.98 billion.

Merchandise exports from the country during October 2017 stood at $23.10 billion (Rs150,325.95 crore) against $23.36 billion (Rs155,926.73 crore) during October 2016, a decline of 1.12 per cent in dollar terms and a 3.59 per cent fall in rupee terms.

However for the April-October 2017-18 period exports have exhibited a growth of 9.62 per cent in dollar terms.

Major commodity groups of export showing positive trend in October 2017 over the corresponding month of last year are engineering goods (11.77 per cent), petroleum products (14.74 per cent), organic and inorganic chemicals (22.29 per cent), cotton yarn, fabrics and made-ups, handloom products etc (4.83 per cent), marine products (8.52 per cent) and plastic and linoleum (24.46 per cent) .

Cumulative value of exports for the period April-October 2017-18 stood at $170.29 billion (Rs1,097,858.68 crore) against $155,34 billion (Rs1,039,297.59 crore), showing a growth of 9.62 per cent in dollar terms and a 5.63 per cent growth in rupee terms over the same period last year.

Exports of products other than petroleum and gems and jewellery in October 2017 were valued at $16.60 billion against $16.20 billion in October 2016, an increase of 2.48 per cent. Such exports during April-October 2017-18 were valued at $124.28 billion against $111.56 billion in the corresponding period in 2016-17, an increase of 11.41 per cent.

The country's imports during October 2017 were valued at $37.12 billion (Rs241,562.31 crore), which was 7.60 per cent higher in dollar terms and 4.91per cent higher in rupee terms over the level of imports valued at $34.50 billion (Rs230,246.81 crore) in October 2016.

Cumulative value of imports for the period April-October 2017-18 stood at $256.43 billion (Rs1,653,435.01 crore) against $209.83 billion (Rs1,403,911.51 crore),showing a growth of 22.21 per cent in dollar terms and 17.77 per cent growth in rupee terms over the same period last year.

Major commodity groups of import showing high growth year-on-year in October 2017 included petroleum, crude and products (27.89 per cent), electronic goods (7.04 per cent), machinery, electrical and non-electrical (17.43 per cent), coal, coke and briquettes etc (66.28 per cent) and organic and inorganic chemicals (30.49 per cent).

Crude oil imports during October 2017 jumped 27.89 per cent to $9.29 billion on the back of rising crude oil prices, compared to oil imports valued at $7.26 billion in October 2016. Oil imports during April-October 2017-18 were valued at $56.25 billion, which was 20.23 per cent higher than oil imports of $46.79 billion in the corresponding period last year.

Non-oil imports during October 2017 were estimated at $27.83 billion, which was 2.19 per cent higher than non-oil imports of $27.23 billion in October 2016. Non-oil imports during April-October 2017-18 were valued at $200.18 billion, which was 22.78 per cent higher than the level of such imports valued at $163.05 billion in April-October 2016-17.