The government has set India's export target of USD 325 billion, less then last financial year's target, for the current financial year on the back of slowdown in the global markets, Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, D Purandeswari informed Parliament.
"Government has set an export target of USD 325 billion for the year 2013-14," the minister said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.
The government had set USD 360 billion export target for 2012-13. The country's exports fell in 2012-13 to USD 300.6 billion.
"As per provisional figures, exports increased 0.8 per cent for January after a continuous fall during May, June, July, August, September, October, November and December 2012," she added.
However, the Commerce Secretary, S R Rao recently told SME Times that there will be certainly improvement in exports in future.
He also said that the target that has been set up by the government in the strategy paper 2011 to double exports by 2014 to USD 500 billion.
India's exports decreased 1.76 percent to USD 300.6 billion in 2012-13 and imports increased by a marginal 0.44 percent to USD 491.48 billion from USD 489.31 billion in 2011-12, leaving a trade deficit of USD 190.91 billion, an increase of 4.12 percent, from USD 183.35 billion in 2011-12.
