India's textile exports surge by 9.6 pc despite global headwinds

New Delhi, June 16
India’s textile exports grew by 9.59 per cent in May this year compared to the same month of the previous year, despite unfavourable economic conditions in major markets such as the European Union (EU), the US and West Asian nations, according to a report by the Confederation of Indian Textile Industry (CITI).

In addition, the country’s apparel exports saw an increase of 9.84 per cent during the same period, the report points out.

CITI’s report highlighted that the combined exports of textiles and apparel in May 2024 registered a 9.70 per cent growth over May last year. India’s overall exports for May 2024 surged to $68.29 billion, marking a substantial year-on-year increase of 10.2 per cent, according to the figures released by the Commerce Ministry.

The CITI analysis shows that during April-May 2024, Indian textile exports grew by 6.04 per cent over the previous year, while apparel exports increased by 4.46 per cent during the same period. The cumulative exports of textiles and apparel during April-May 2024 saw a 5.34 per cent rise compared to the same period last year.

The recently released export data also showed a strong performance in sectors such as electronic goods, pharmaceuticals, organic and inorganic chemicals, engineering goods and petroleum products.

Electronic goods exports shot up by as much as 22.97 per cent, underlining the change in India’s export goods basket contributed by the growth in the manufacturing sector.

Similarly, petroleum products (15.75 per cent year-on-year) and engineering goods (7.39 per cent) exports also registered high rates of growth.

Ashwani Kumar, President of the Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO), said that there is a positive trajectory in May 2024, driven by robust order bookings. Among the top 10 export markets for India were the US, UAE, Netherlands, UK, China, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, Bangladesh, Germany and France, with exports to these markets registering double-digit growth rates.

India’s overall merchandise exports jumped by 9.1 per cent to $38.13 billion, while service exports climbed by 11.7 per cent, reaching $30.16 billion.