India Exports Rise to 15-Month High of $14.6 Billion

Jan. 11 (Bloomberg) -- India’s exports increased to a 15- month high in December as recovery in the global economy boosted demand for the South Asian nation’s products.

Overseas shipments surged to $14.6 billion after rising 18.2 percent from a year earlier in the previous month, the first increase in 14 months, Trade Minister Anand Sharma told reporters in Mumbai today. Exports are rebounding after an average 17.4 percent decline in the past year.

A revival in exports may boost production at companies in India and bolster growth in Asia’s third-biggest economy, which expanded 7.9 percent in the three months to Sept. 30 from a year earlier, the quickest pace in six quarters. A separate report yesterday showed China’s exports climbed 17.7 percent in December, the first gain in 14 months, as Asian economies recover from the worst worldwide recession since the 1930s.

“We shall sustain this positive trend” in the current quarter, Sharma said. The government will announce more stimulus measures for some sectors tomorrow, he said.

Stimulus measures worth more than $2 trillion worldwide and record-low interest rates are reviving demand for clothes made by Gokaldas Exports Ltd. and cars produced by Maruti Suzuki India Ltd., which makes half the cars sold in India.

Overseas sales of cars made by Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai Motor India Ltd. and others rose 39.3 percent in December from a year earlier. Total passenger vehicle exports jumped 40.4 percent, compared with a 15.6 percent gain in the previous month, according to the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers.

Stimulus Measures

Various stimulus measures announced by India’s government have helped exporters bear the impact of the global demand slump, Sharma said. The government injected fiscal and monetary stimulus worth more than 12 percent of gross domestic product between September 2008 and April last year.

The U.S. returned to growth in the third quarter after a yearlong contraction and France, Germany and Japan have exited recession. The U.S. economy, India’s second-biggest export market, expanded 2.2 percent in the July-September quarter.

India is boosting its efforts to increase overseas sales by developing trade agreements with other countries. The South Asian nation in August signed a free-trade accord with South Korea and the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations as it attempts to reduce its dependence on the U.S. and Europe, which account for about 40 percent of the nation’s exports.

India in August also announced tax refunds for exporters to explore new markets in Africa and Latin America.