India's exports grow 21% in FY-12, but lag imports.

India's exports rose an annual 21 percent to $303.7 billion for the fiscal year 2011-12, while imports rose 32.1 percent to $488.6 billion, Trade Secretary Rahul Khullar said on Thursday, citing provisional data.

The trade deficit was at $184.9 billion, Khullar told reporters.

The data shows India has beaten its target of about 20 percent exports growth set by the government, despite a slowdown in the major export destinations such as the United States and Europe.

But the country's high trade deficit could worsen its current account balance and further weaken the rupee.

India’s trade deficit (on customs basis) was $118.6 billion in fiscal 2010-11, according to finance ministry data.

India's current account deficit is expected to touch four percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in the 2011-12 fiscal year that ended in March, the worst in at least eight years because of a widening trade gap, Khullar added.

India's current account deficit (CAD), which was 2.6 per cent of gross domestic product in the 2010/11 fiscal year, widened to 4.3 percent of GDP in the October-December quarter.

India's balance of payments (BoP) slipped into negative territory for the first time in three years in the three months through December on shrinking dollar inflows, while the country's current account deficit widened further.

India’s high imports are driven primarily by imports of crude oil, followed by capital goods, gold & silver, and pearls & precious and semi-precious stones. At the end of December 2011, India’s oil imports accounted for $73.7 billion of the total, while gold and silver worth $31.2 bn were brought into the country.

Source : profit.ndtv.com