Exports of engineering goods surged 54 per cent to $81.8 billion during the April-December 2021 period as compared with $52.9 billion recorded during the same period of the previous year, the government data showed on Monday.
The engineering goods sector constituted the largest, more than 27 per cent, share in India's total exports basket during the period.
In the month of December 2021, exports of engineering goods touched $9.79 billion, registering a growth of 38.41 per cent over $7.07 billion logged in December 2020, according to a statement released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
As compared to April-December 2019 ($59.8 billion), exports of engineering goods registered a growth of 37 per cent.
The engineering goods sector comprises metal products, industrial machinery and equipment, automobiles and components, transport equipment, bicycles, medical devices and renewable equipment.
The overall exports of engineering goods in the financial year 2020-21 stood at $76.62 billion. In just nine months of the current financial year the exports were $81.8 billion, which is higher than the full year of 2020-21.
India's top five export destinations for the engineering goods sector in April-November 2021 are: USA (14.7 per cent), China (5.8 per cent), UAE (5.1 per cent), Italy (4 per cent) and Germany (3.4 per cent).
The impressive growth in engineering goods exports in recent years has largely been due to the zero duty Export Promotion Capital Goods (EPCG) scheme of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and forms part of the Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) of Government of India.
The policy which came into force on April 1, 2015, was for five years with validity up to 31st March, 2020. In order to provide policy stability during the pandemic period, FTP 2015-20 was extended for the year 2021-22 i.e. up to March 31, 2022.
The scheme allows import of capital goods for pre-production, production and post-production (including completely knocked down/ semi knocked down thereof as well as computer software systems) at zero customs duty, subject to an export obligation equivalent to 6 times of duty saved on capital goods imported under EPCG scheme.
( With inputs from ANI )
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