Engineering Exports Cross US$70 Billion in H1 of FY 2026-27

The Department of Commerce and EEPC India, the country’s apex body for engineering export promotion, held a Chintan Shivir for the engineering sector. The brainstorming sessions were called to draw up a route to US$250 billion of engineering goods exports by 2030, to use free trade pacts better for market access, and to secure long-term supplies of key raw materials. Policymakers, industry leaders, sector experts and other stakeholders took part.

The export numbers

In the first six months of FY 2026-27, engineering exports went past US$70 billion, a growth of nearly 20 per cent over the same period of the previous year. India’s total exports of goods and services rose 14 per cent year-on-year to US$476.20 billion during April-September of 2026-27.

What the Commerce Secretary said

Commerce Secretary Shri Rajesh Agrawal, in his keynote address, said exports had held up well through global uncertainty. He pointed to room for India to lift its share of world merchandise exports from about 2 per cent towards 15 to 20 per cent, and said ambitious targets were needed to push growth and competitiveness. He flagged Quality Control Orders, sustainability-linked trade measures and climate requirements as emerging hurdles to market access, and asked industry to work together on common problems.

A bigger target proposed

Joint Secretary Shri Vimal Anand urged EEPC India to revisit its ambition and aim for US$300 billion of engineering exports by 2030, which he said was within reach with sustained industry-government effort. He also asked the council to prepare a white paper on Quality Control Orders covering the sectors and products involved, the reasoning behind them and their effect on industry. EEPC India Chairman Shri Pankaj Chadha said the sector was on course to beat last year’s figures and that engineering exports should cross US$140 billion in the current financial year. The discussions also warned that volatile input costs, supply-chain disruption, global overcapacity and trade-protective measures could hurt competitiveness.