Exports in high growth trajectory during May: Piyush Goyal

The country's exports have recorded healthy growth during the first three weeks of May, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Saturday.

He also said that while the world is going through a turmoil, India is relentlessly rising on global stage as it is recording health growth in exports and foreign direct investment (FDI).

''I have seen the numbers of exports even in the last three weeks. The pace of growth which we witnessed in April continues into May. We have been able to demonstrate resilience in the face of so many adversities,'' he told reporters here.

Exports rose by 13.78 per cent to USD 43.56 billion in April, the highest monthly outbound shipments in more than four years, driven by petroleum products amid a surge in crude oil prices, but trade deficit widened to a three-month high of USD 28.38 billion due to an uptick in imports.

The minister said that FDI during 2025-26 has touched an all time high of USD 95 billion, an increase of 17 percent year on year.

This growth, he said, will continue in the years to come given the favour that India enjoys amongst global investors as a preferred investment destination.

''The government has absorbed significant amounts of costs, particularly for the farmers in terms of elevated fertiliser prices, which have not been passed on to farmers, but the burden has been taken fully by the central government,'' he added.

He said that the government is also continually introducing initiatives to support economic growth.

For May, the commerce ministry will officially release the export and import data on June 15.

The high growth in FDI reflects global investors' appetite for India.

Talking about the semiconductor sector, he said that Tata and ASML have joined hands to set up a plant in Dholera, Gujarat, which is a big achievement in itself.

''Because I still remember, when the semicon mission was launched 3 years ago, then ASML was hesitating. And there is no chip that can be made without ASML equipment. It is a compulsion that you need ASML equipment. So you see, what a big change in 3 years. From no to yes,'' Goyal said.

ASML is known for having a monopoly in a category of lithography equipment, which is critical for the production of advanced small-sized semiconductors.

Electronics manufacturing company Tata Electronics and Dutch semiconductor equipment major ASML have joined hands to enable chip manufacturing in India.

He informed that the ministry has held an inter-ministerial meeting with industry associations on ways to boost domestic manufacturing.

The ministry has received suggestions from sectors such as capital goods, optical fibres and chemicals.

In the meeting, he said the ministry has shared import data and data on sectors with export potential.

''We will put data in the public domain also...as opportunity will pull investment,'' he said, adding that from time to time, plans are made to provide incentives to different sectors as per their needs.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)