Why $400-bn in exports may be a passing joy

Recently, there was much celebration when India hit $400 billion in export figures before schedule. But a closer look at the constituents of that number shows that the $400 billion is transient. To use jargon, the $400-billion isn’t sticky. A large part of it comes from rocketing prices of commodities such as crude, diamond and gold, which is also a reason why India’s import bill in the corresponding period shot up to $589 billion. Trade deficit has increased to $188 billion from $102.6 billion in FY21. So whenever the commodity prices cool down, both export and import figures will fall considerably too.