The ten months between April 2025 and January 2026 were not easy ones for Indian exporters. The United States imposed steep tariffs on Indian goods, global demand softened, and supply chains remained fragile in the aftermath of years of disruption. However, India has now posted growth in exports during this time.
India’s total exports of merchandise and services during April–January FY 2025-26 rose to $714.73 billion, up by 5.26 per cent or $36 billion, over the same period last year, Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Jitin Prasada told the Parliament this week.
According to Prasada, India’s exports have grown at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.9 per cent over the four years from FY 2021-22 to FY 2024-25, rising from $497.90 billion in FY 2020-21 to $828.25 billion in FY 2024-25. This hints at a broad-based growth that has continued even when global conditions have pushed back.
The Minister attributed the resilience, in part, to a deliberate and layered policy framework. The Foreign Trade Policy 2023 served as a flexible backbone, adapting to shifting global conditions rather than remaining static.
The recently launched Export Promotion Mission (EPM 2), backed by a ₹25,060 crore outlay for FY 2025-26 to FY 2030-31, runs two targeted programmes. One is Niryat Protsahan, which addresses trade finance and credit access for exporters, and the other is Niryat Disha, which focuses on logistics, warehousing, branding, and market access. The Centre expects both programmes to help Indian MSMEs compete internationally.
However, instead of easing, global headwinds have also become stronger, especially with the escalating Middle East tensions, to close the current fiscal year.
To mitigate perils from such events, the commerce ministry stated that it had notified a new "RELIEF" Scheme through the Export Credit Guarantee Corporation (ECGC), providing insurance cover to exporters facing elevated risk from geopolitical disruptions in global shipping corridors.
Moreover, since 2021, India has either concluded or advanced eight major trade agreements, including a landmark pact with the EU and the first FTA with a dedicated FDI commitment, the India-EFTA TEPA.
The final figures of the fiscal year will be released in the months to come, and the Centre hopes for an overall jump in exports, year on year. For now, the Centre is betting that the measures they introduced will keep the global headwinds at bay.
