West Asia war: India may announce relief package to support exporters affected by conflict

Surabhi Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agarwal on Monday said the disruption caused to the movement of ships and air cargo because of the conflict in West Asia is likely to have some impact on India’s trade with the region as well.

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The government is thinking of measures to support exporters, and a package could be announced as early as this week. “March is likely to be challenging in terms of trade. There will be some impact of the West Asia crisis on potential exports, but we hope that overall exports in FY26 will be around $860 billion,” Agarwal told reporters during the monthly trade briefing.

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He expressed hope that whatever losses are suffered in West Asia in terms of exports will be made up by trade in some other parts of the world. “We would like to remain in positive territory in goods exports this year,” Agarwal said, adding that services exports will be in the positive territory.

The war between US, Israel, and Iran has impacted global trade and the movement of ships due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Air cargo has also been disrupted due to disruptions in flights, the commerce secretary noted, adding that the Inter-Ministerial Group under the Director General of Foreign Trade has been meeting daily to discuss and resolve the challenges.

In February, India’s merchandise exports were almost flat at $36.61 billion, compared to $36.91 billion last year. Merchandise imports in February rose 24.1% to $63.71 billion from $51.33 billion the year before. Officials attributed the rise in imports to the increase in the prices of gold and silver.

In January, merchandise exports were lower at $36.56 billion, and merchandise imports came in at $71.24 billion. The trade deficit widened to $3.96 billion in February.

The cumulative exports (merchandise and services) during April-February 2025-26 are estimated at $790.86 billion, as compared to $ 747.58 billion the previous year, which is an estimated growth of 5.79%.