CHENNAI: The nearly six-week lockdown till May and partial industrial shutdown till the first week of July have impacted the export of automobiles and parts from Tamil Nadu , which almost halved to $1.7 billion during April-September 2020, down from $3.3 billion a year ago.
Known as the Detroit of the south, TN’s export basket has always been dominated by automobile and auto components traditionally comprising 40% of total exports. Exports were flat in April-September 2018 and April-September 2019 at around $3.3 billion. Vehicle, component and tyre factories in the Sriperumbudur and Oragadam region hit peak production only in the run-up to the festival season in August and September.
“Auto and component exports from TN have grown from $5.4 billion in FY15-16 to about $6.6 billion in FY19-20, at a 5.3% CAGR. Overall exports from TN (barring auto) went from about $20 billion in 2016 to around $24 billion in FY19-20 — an increment of $4 billion over five years. So non-auto exports have done better,” said S Prahalathan, chief GM-India, Exim Bank.
The state has a large presence of export-driven industries like textiles & garments, leather goods, software and BPO, and was the largest exporter of leather products and the third largest exporter of software in 2019. In terms of the number of operational and exporting SEZs, Tamil Nadu ranked first, constituting around 15% of India’s total SEZ exports. In 2019-20, auto and components contributed 22% of TN exports followed by apparel (13%), machinery (12%) and footwear (4%).
According to the latest data released by the Automotive Component Manufacturers Association (ACMA) for instance, exports of auto components declined by 23.6% to $5.2 billion in April-September ’20 compared to the year ago period. As for vehicle exports, this dipped over 63% in April-October ’20 shows the latest data from the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM).
“Apart from auto, TN was the largest exporter of leather products and the third largest exporter of software in 2019,” said Prahalathan.
In terms of ranking, TN has slipped in the past couple of years. “TN was the second largest contributor to India’s economy with a GSDP of Rs 12.1 trillion in 2018-19, second to Maharashtra,” said Prahalathan. During the year, exports constituted 18% of the GSDP, up from 16% in 2015-16. The state, however, slipped subsequently as export increase turned flat and then negative. “Tamil Nadu ranked as the third largest merchandise exporter from India in 2019-20, after Maharashtra and Gujarat,” he said.
Source:-timesofindia.indiatimes.com