Bangladesh’s exports to India witnessed a rapid growth in the first quarter of the current fiscal year to reach about $612.70 million, up 22.80 percent from that in the same period of the previous fiscal.
In the first quarter (July-September) of the 2021-22 fiscal, exporters of Bangladesh exported various products worth $498.60 million to the neighboring country.
Experts said the export earnings to India are increasing due to geographical reasons with a lower cost of production.
Besides, these earnings have increased rapidly as the country is now producing quality products, they said.
If this positive trend continues, Bangladesh's exports to the Indian market will surpass $3 billion for the first time by the end of the current fiscal year, they mentioned.
Government policy makers, economists and business leaders have expressed hope that this positive trend of product exports to India, the world’s second highest populated country, will continue in the coming days.
They said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's visit to India in the first week of September has given a new dimension to the expansion of investment and trade between the two countries.
According to Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) data, Bangladesh’s exports to India stood at $152 million in July, $222.40 million in August and $240 million in September 2022 respectively.
In the fiscal year 2021-2022, India imported goods worth $1.99 billion from Bangladesh. Out of this, $715.41 million came from garment exports.
According to the latest data from the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB), India, as a single country, is now the seventh-largest export market in Bangladesh. In other words, India is now one of the top 10 markets for Bangladesh's export earnings.
Even in the fiscal year 2020-21, India did not have a place in the list of top 10 export markets of Bangladesh. During that time, India was ranked 14th-15th.
The United States, as always, is on top and Germany is in second place. It was followed by the United Kingdom, France, Spain and Poland respectively.
Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi had told reporters recently, “We are very happy that exports to India are increasing. Hopefully, the country’s exports to India will exceed $3 billion in the current fiscal year.
Prof Selim Raihan, the executive director of the South Asian Network on Economic Modeling (SANEM), said, “The supply of goods has been interrupted due to the corona pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war. For this, both Bangladesh and India have increased their focus on procuring products from nearby sources. Again, the improvement of infrastructural communication between Bangladesh and India has also had an impact in this regard.”