According to Indian Trade Secretary Rahul Khullar, India’s balance of trade has gone from a whopping trade deficit of $31.6 billion during the first quarter of the current fiscal year and has shrunk to a much more manageable trade deficit of $7.7 in June.

India’s trade deficit is reported to have shrunk after a steep rise in Indian exports over the past year. In the year-on-year growth rates in June, India’s exports registered a robust growth of 46.6%, allowing exports to climb to $29.2 billion in value.

Mr. Khullar was particularly pleased with India’s export performance. While speaking with reporters, "$29.2 billion figure is a very, very high number for exports. Virtually all sectors grew well", Commerce Secretary Rahul Khullar told reporters there.

In the period of April to June of this year, export growth rates fell slightly to 45.7% while imports also climbed by 36.2%, stopping at $110.6 billion.

According to Mr. Khullar, India’s export growth was largely driven by increased demand in Western markets. In particular, among India’s export sectors the demand for engineering, petroleum products, gems and jewellery, readymade garments and electronics grew at a strong rate.