The Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) has welcomed the impressive October exports growth and expressed confidence that the sector can achieve the government's export target of US$17 billion set for the current financial year.

India's exports grew 13.47 per cent year-on-year in October this year, and the government has set a target to export US$17 billion worth of apparel in the twelve months ended March 2014.

Dr. A Sakthivel, chairman of AEPC, said, "With the current growth of rate we can achieve the apparel export target of USD 17 billion set by the Government. We welcome the current growth of rate in overall exports."

He added that the sector had been registering a growth of nearly 13 per cent in exports for more than six months. However, he also underlined that apparel sector, which is an employment critical sector, was facing problems, such as higher cost of finance.

Over the past months, India managed to tap several new markets, including Middle East, Japan, Russia, Australia, Latin America and Japan, thanks to aggressive export promotion events across the globe.

Imports slipped by 14.50 per cent to US$37.82 billion in October, from US$44.24 billion in the corresponding month of 2012. This pushed the country's trade significantly up, from US$6.76 billion in September to US$10.55 billion in October.