Imports also shrank 6.6% on-year to $57.1 billion from $61.13 billion, leaving a trade deficit of $22.12 billion in May from $22.13 billion a year ago.
Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal said headwinds still continue on the global trade front and many countries are going through a slowdown.
The government, he said, is working on a twin strategy of import substitution and export promotion wherein Invest India will also be used to build the country’s trade strategy.
“We have identified 40 countries to focus on exports which have 85% of our export share,” he said.
In April-May, the US, UAE and the Netherlands were the top three destinations for Indian exports while China, the UAE and the US were the top import sources. Outbound shipments of electronics, rice and pharmaceuticals have shown the highest growth in the first two months of FY24 while those of petroleum products, engineering goods, and gems and jewellery have declined. Gold, coal and petroleum imports have fallen in the period while those of machinery and electronic goods have risen.Officials said that the fifth round of the India-EU free trade agreement (FTA) began Thursday and will go on till June 27. The talks cover 23 policy areas. With Australia, 15 new areas of interest such as sports, competition policy, gender and agri-tech are being considered. The next round of the India-Australia Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement is scheduled next month