After declining for four months in a row, India’s engineering exports turned positive in August and registered a marginal growth of 2.18 per cent to $4.68 billion compared to a year ago period.
In August 2012, these exports stood at $4.58 billion, according to the data provided by the Engineering Export Promotion Council (EEPC).
“In the current fiscal, engineering exports turned positive for the first time in August on account of reviving demand in the traditional market Europe and emerging ones like Latin America and Africa,” an EEPC official said.
The US and Europe together account for 60 per cent of the country’s total engineering exports.
However in the first five months of 2013-14, these exports declined by 4.2 per cent to $22.72 billion compared to the same period last fiscal.
Besides, the EEPC has sought setting up of a Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme (TUFS) to the tune of Rs 3,500 crore to boost exports from the sector.
The council feels that engineering exports, which contribute the second largest share to the overall export basket, need to be revived.
In spite of massive growth in the past few decades, the domestic engineering sector suffers from severe technological obsolescence and lack of economies of scale.
Engineering exports include transport equipment, capital goods, other machinery/equipment and light engineering products like castings, forgings and fasteners.
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.