India’s merchandise exports surged 17.25 per cent year-on-year to $39.2 billion in October, the highest in over two years, while the trade deficit widened to $27.14 billion.

Imports rose 3.9 per cent to $66.34 billion in October.

“This has been an extremely good month for exports,” said commerce secretary Sunil Barthwal.

“If we continue in this manner, we will cross $800 billion of exports (goods and services together) this fiscal year.”

Barthwal attributed the strong export performance to the government’s focus on the six key sectors — engineering, electronics, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, plastics, and agriculture — and 20 key countries.

"These 20 countries account for 60 per cent of the total global imports and these six segments have a share of 67 per cent in global imports,” he said.

However, FIEO president Ashwani Kumar cautioned that trade finance challenges remain a key issue for small and medium enterprises, impacting their competitiveness in global markets.

“The merchandise trade data for October 2024 displayed divergent trends, with a sharp rise in the trade deficit in sequential terms,” said Aditi Nayar, chief economist at Icra.