India’s exporting more phones and cars, while jewellery and textiles take a backseat; Is this a temporary change or a permanent feature?

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

India’s merchandise exports have undergone a major shift in recent years. The change has been rather silent except for the occasional buzz about export of iPhones. But it is not just about Apple’s flagship product. India’s share in the global export of machinery, phones, automobiles and petroleum has grown significantly between 2015 and 2022. Meanwhile, there has been a marked decline in India’s share in its traditional export items such as gems and jewellery, apparel, meat and leather articles. Exports of textiles, clothing and made-ups, for instance, fell by about 17% y-o-y in FY2023. Is this change temporary or will this be a permanent feature of our trade order? An analysis of the data by Delhi-based trade think tank Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) shows India’s exports in the category called electronics, telecom, mobile phone etc., jumped from $7.9 bn in 2015 to $26.6 bn in 2022 — from 0.41% share of world market to 0.71%, a 73% rise. In machinery, India’s global market share rose from 0.75% to 1.05%, a growth of 40%. The analysis for the same period lists other performing sectors such as petroleum (share in global trade went up from 1.87% in 2015 to 2.45% in 2022) and automobile and its components (from 1.11% to 1.32%). All figures pertain to calendar year.

View: India needs to focus on export earnings

India’s share in world merchandise export in 2022 was 1.8%. If services exports are also added, the share would go up to 2.4%. The figure is still low when compared with India’s 3% contribution to the global market cap or 3.4% share of glob- a l gross domestic product (GDP). In FY23, India’s merchandise export was $447 bn, registering a 6% rise y-o-y. If goods and services are com- bined,