India’s engineering goods exports grew 10.20% year-on-year to $10.04 billion in December 2023 despite several challenges stemming from geo-political tensions and tight financial conditions in major advanced economies. While it is certainly a strong rebound, the sector is not out of the woods yet as global economic uncertainties remain high.
For engineering exporters, it has been quite a challenging time. Tensions in Europe and now in West Asia have caused a fair amount of downside risks. There are projections that global growth will slow down in 2024, and issues like high-interest rates and low consumer spending will also continue to bite this year.
Considering all the factors, we remain cautiously optimistic and hope geopolitical tensions will ease, leading to improvement in the global macroeconomic situation.
More free trade pacts with countries, especially in Latin America and Africa, would help the exporters get deeper access to new and emerging markets. Given that the Union Budget is around the corner, the government could take a few measures, such as low-cost credit and market support, to boost engineering exports.