NEW DELHI: The India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (Ind-Aus ECTA), which completed two years on Sunday, has helped India increase its exports by 14% to the Indo-pacific nation in FY24. However, it is still lower than exports in 2021-22.
A press statement by the Ministry of Commerce says since the signing of ECTA, bilateral merchandise trade has more than doubled, surging from $12.2 billion in 2020-21 to $26 billion in 2022-23.
Total trade, however, moderated in the year 2023-24 to $24 billion in 2023-24, with India’s exports to Australia growing by 14%.
“The current fiscal year continues to reflect strong momentum. Total merchandise bilateral trade from April-November 2024 reached $16.3 billion,” says the statement. However, after signing of the agreement, India’s trade deficit with Australia had increased from $8.5 billion in 2021-22 to $12 billion in 2022-23.
It fell to $8.2 billion in 2023-24. After the signing of the trade pact, exports of textiles, chemicals, and agriculture goods have shown substantial growth. It has also boosted exports on new lines of products such as gold studded with diamonds and turbojets, highlighting the diversification enabled by the agreement. When it comes to imports, India has mostly imported from Australia essential raw materials, such as metalliferous ores, cotton, wood and wood products.
According to the commerce ministry, imports from Australia have fuelled India’s industries, contributing to the win-win nature of this partnership. Imports of electronics and engineering have room for growth. Both the countries are committed to building on the momentum created by the ECTA, and to achieve the target of trade to reach AUD 100 billion by 2030 between India and Australia.