NEW DELHI: India’s goods exports hit the $200-billion mark during the financial year up to Aug 21 on the back of a sustained over 15% rise in shipments from the country, raising expectations within govt that this fiscal, it may breach the $500-billion level for the first time.Latest available data estimated exports during the third week of Aug at over $25 billion, a senior official said, on the condition of anonymity. Commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal has set an ambitious target of goods and services exports reaching the $1-trillion mark for the first time.Exports have been driven by petroleum products. Besides, sectors such as electronics have been booming on account of robust mobile phone exports. In addition, sectors such as engineering have powered the growth, although some of the traditional segments such as textiles have remained under pressure.The weakening of the rupee against the US dollar is seen to have added to the tailwinds by making Indian goods more competitive against some of the shipments from rival countries.Among the destinations, flows to China, South East Asia and countries in Africa have shown significant growth during April-July, the latest period for which official data is available.Latest data shared by EEPC India estimated engineering shipments in July 2026 to be 18% higher at $ 12.2 billion. Among key destinations, engineering exports grew to almost all countries, barring a few including Saudi Arabia, Thailand and Turkey, EEPC said on Wednesday. Exports to Saudi Arabia have been impacted by the West Asia war.On the import side, however, there is some pressure due to higher prices of oil and fertiliser, while gold has been putting pressure given the higher prices. In July, however, there was moderation in shipments.
