India: Export growth plummets to 4.2 pc in November

New Delhi, Dec 9 (PTI) Growth in India's exports plummeted to 4.2 per cent year-on-year as the shipments aggregated USD 22.3 billion in November in the wake of a difficult global situation, while imports were up 29.1 per cent to USD 35.9 billion. Since slowdown in growth has set in because of factors like Euro zone crisis, Commerce Secretary Rahul Khullar today said India's total exports for the current 2011-12 fiscal ending March 31, 2012 would be in the range of USD 280 billion. Earlier, the exports for 2011-12 were projected at USD 300 billion. "If Europe slides into proper recession, with all the attendant financial contagion... the entire world economy will slowdown and we could also be impacted," India's Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said in Parliament today. Due to better performance in the previous months, the country's exports grew by 33.2 per cent to USD 192.7 billion in the April-November 2011-12, according to the figures which the Commerce Ministry released. The country's imports also rose by 30.2 per cent to USD 309.5 billion during the eight month period, leaving a trade gap of USD 116.8 billion, Khullar said. PTI