Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd. refinery in Mumbai. File.
| Photo Credit: Reuters
Healthy growth in shipments of petroleum products, electronic goods and chemicals helped India’s merchandise exports rise 23.04% in September, while the trade deficit narrowed to $30.21 billion year-on-year due to a dip in imports of precious metals.
However, when compared to August, the deficit during September widened from $26.86 billion. In September last year, it was $33 billion.
The country’s exports rose to $44.4 billion from $36.08 billion in September 2025, government data released on Thursday (October 15, 2026) said.
Imports rose by 8% year-on-year to $74.61 billion in September.
Gold imports down
Gold and silver imports declined by 81.27% and 49.11%, respectively, to $1.8 billion and $665 million during the month. Inbound shipments of crude oil, on the other hand, rose by 30.76% to $18.34 billion.
Brent crude oil prices have been hovering over $100 per barrel during the last few weeks.
Cumulatively, during April-September this fiscal, exports jumped 18.51% to $259.89 billion, and imports climbed 16.31% to $437.53 billion. The deficit during the first half of 2026-27 widened to $177.64 billion as compared to $156.88 billion during April-September 2025-26.
Exports are maintaining their growth trend, Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agarwal said in a press briefing on trade data.
He expressed the hope that if the trend continued, the country’s merchandise exports would cross $500 billion. They were at $442 billion in 2025-26.
Exports of petroleum products, electronic goods and chemicals grew by 31.9% ($6.2 billion), 70.44% ($5.3 billion) and 24.21% ($3 billion) respectively, during the month.
High crude oil prices amid the West Asia crisis have helped India earn better realisations from petroleum product exports.
As per government estimates, services exports stood at $36.35 billion in September, and imports were at $19.44 billion.
Services exports
On services exports, the secretary said the rise in oil prices due to the West Asia crisis has impacted the exports in areas, including travel and tourism.
Commenting on the data, Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) president S.C. Ralhan said exporters continue to respond to global uncertainty with agility, strengthening their presence across markets and product categories.
“This strong first-half performance provides a firm foundation to advance towards India’s $1 trillion export ambition. The priority now is to translate this momentum into sustained orders and deeper market penetration. With an enabling policy environment, India can expand high-value and technology-intensive exports, build on its traditional strengths and strengthen its participation in global value chains,” he said.
Published – October 15, 2026 07:55 pm IST
