New Delhi: The country's exports jumped by 60.29 per cent to USD 34.45 billion in March even as the outbound shipments contracted by 7.26 per cent during the full 2020-21 fiscal to USD 290.63 billion.
Imports too grew by 53.74 per cent to USD 48.38 billion in March, but dipped by 18 per cent to USD 389.18 billion during April-March 2020-21, according to the government data released on Thursday.
Read:| India posts record high YoY merchandise exports in March 2021
Trade deficit during March 2021 widened to USD 13.93 billion from USD 9.98 billion in March 2020. The trade deficit during the full fiscal, however, narrowed to USD 98.56 billion as against USD 161.35 billion during 2019-20, the data showed.
Product categories that recorded positive growth during March include oil meals (230.4 per cent), iron ore (194.89 per cent), jute manufacturing including floor covering (105.26 per cent), electronic goods (91.98 per cent), carpet (89.84 per cent), gems and jewellery (78.93 per cent), engineering goods (71.3 per cent), rice (66.77 per cent), spices (60.42 per cent), and meat, dairy and poultry products (52.79 per cent).
Pharmaceuticals (48.49 per cent), chemicals (46.5 per cent), marine products (40.81 per cent), petroleum products (35.52 per cent), coffee (23.27 per cent), and tea (8 per cent) were also among the segments that recorded growth.
Read:| Engineering goods fuel India export to record high in March
Sectors that saw negative growth during March are oilseeds (-6.45 per cent) and cashew (-1.99 per cent).
Import sectors that recorded negative growth during the month include silver, transport equipment, pulses and fertilisers.
Oil imports in March grew by 2.23 per cent to USD 10.27 billion in March. During April-March 2020-21, the imports dipped by 36.92 per cent to USD 82.35 billion.
Gold imports during the month increased to USD 8.49 billion from USD 1.22 billion in March 2020.
PTI
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