Made in India – sold to the world — Why India is proud of its exports – Business News

The tale of India’s independence is as intriguing as the story of its growth for the past 78 years, which has stood still despite severe economic depressions, market tensions, diplomatic tussles and much more. From a heavily dependent country with millions to feed and build a nation from scratch post independence, India has outperformed the expectations and projects multiple times presenting itself a leader in the growing world. Today, India is one the countries that earns significantly through its export sector.

What does it mean? The robust export sector highlights India’s potential to fulfill the requirement of a product or material at home, and being in surplus to supply the same to other countries. While one can ask why India should be proud of its rising exports, while many other nations are following the same path – the deal is India has comparatively a larger population and market to deal with first, which mean its surplus in products like textiles, gems, pharmaceuticals, minerals, jute etc is quite significant. 

India projected to surpass exports growth of last year

India’s projected total export is likely to be US$ 68.27 Billion for July 2025, which is 4.54% more than what the country saw in July 2024. This includes both services and merchandise, the official data of the Ministry of Commerce & Industry stated on Thursday.

The cumulative exports during April-July 2025 is estimated at US$ 277.63 Billion, as compared to US$ 263.83 Billion in April-July 2024, an estimated growth of 5.23%.

The numbers paint a positive outlook for India, despite US President Donald Trump’s tariffs. In the Apr-Jul 25 quarter, the major drivers of merchandise exports are engineering goods, electronic goods, gems & jewellery, drugs & pharmaceuticals, and organic & inorganic chemicals.

In the financial year 2024–25, India’s total exports touched an all-time high of US $824.9 billion, the ministry had said citing the data shared by the Reserve Bank of India. It was a sharp 6.01% growth as compared to the preceding financial year. 

The growth trajectory has since been growing only. In the last quarter, India’s exports included 

Other Cereals  (71.97%)

Coffee (67.46%)

Electronic Goods (33.89%)

Meat, Dairy & Poultry Products (31.19%)

Gems & Jewellery (28.95%)

Mica, Coal & Other Ores, Minerals Including Processed Minerals (27.11%)

Jute Mfg. Including Floor Covering (26.34%)

Oil Seeds (22.68%)

Tea (18.97%)

Drugs & Pharmaceuticals (14.06%)

Marine Products (14.02%)

Engineering Goods (13.75%)

Key sectors of growth

Textiles

There are several sectors where India dominates the charts and has been amongst the top performers as far as the exports are concerned. Textile industry is one such area where India holds grip with a variety of options like cotton, silk to jute, wool, and synthetic fabrics.

According to an Indian Express report, India makes approximately $37 billion a year from the textile industry. The products include clothing, yarn, and home furnishings, which New Delhi ships to various countries such as the US, UK, UAE, Bangladesh, and Germany. 

India’s skilled textile workers and tradition builds the foundation of the industry. 

Mobile

Mobile phone exports reached US$ 15.6 billion in 2023-24 from USD 0.2 billion in 2014-15, the government had said in an official release. It said that with domestic production of mobile growing from 5.8 crore units in 2014-15 to 33 crore units in 2023-24, the imports have dropped significantly.

Pharmaceuticals

India saw a sharp uptick in its Pharmaceuticals products. India ranks third globally in drug and pharmaceutical production by volume, and witnessed the exports rise from USD 15.07 billion in 2013-14 to USD 27.85 billion in FY 2023-24 – a massive jump of 85%.

Some other crucial industries responsible for the growth of the country’s exports are – Pearls, precious stones, metals, Organic chemicals, Electrical, and electronic equipment, among others.

A ‘Made in India’ call – Rising exports, decreasing imports

The ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ or ‘self-reliant India’ has pushed the long-pending dream of having ‘Made in India’ tag on as many products as possible. For a little over the past one decade, India has been focusing on inviting industries to build in India. Be it mobile, vehicles, chips or anything – India is more ready than ever with resources to facilitate the production on large scale for multiple industries. 

The Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government has been pushing the industries with steps like performance-linked (PLI) schemes, to encourage them to make in the country. This ultimately increases employability within the country, reduces labour costs and India’s dependency on other countries.

This is quite visible in the decreasing imports in industries like mobile, EVs among others where India has stepped up its exporting power. 

The ‘Make in India’ iPhone

Apple, the maker of the world’s most popular mobile – iPhone, came to India and began manufacturing. In 2024 alone, it reportedly exported iPhones worth over Rs 1 lakh crore. According to an ET report, in the first six months of 2025, Apple recorded the fastest ramp-up in production. 

Though the company has had its presence in the country for decades, it was not until 2025 that it opened its store. In the final week of March, Apple reportedly flew five planes full of iPhones to dodge Trump’s 10% reciprocal tariffs.

Coffee brews India’s success story

A normal act of bringing and planting seven Mocha seeds to the hills of Karnataka in the 1600s by legendary holy saint Baba Budan, built the foundation of India’s thriving coffee industry.

According to a January report of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, India is now the seventh-largest coffee producer globally with exports reaching $1.29 billion in FY 2023-24, almost double the $719.42 million in 2020-21.

Coffee is one of the most consumed products in the world and is known for its unique flavours. India successfully fulfills the domestic need of the coffee, and exports a large amount to several countries. 

Defence sector booms in past decade

The export in the defence sector of the country stood at Rs 686 crore in 2013–14, but by 2024-25, it reached Rs 23,622 crore, according to the government. This 34-fold increase reflects the success of India’s self-reliant approach. The diverse export portfolio includes bulletproof jackets, Dornier (Do-228) aircraft, Chetak helicopters, fast interceptor boats, and lightweight torpedoes.

Not only this, several developed economies including the US, France were among over 100 buyers purchasing India’s defence equipment in 2023-24.

India’s diversity in terms of products and services, richness of minerals, gems, raw materials and intensifying research, all these together project far better exports in the coming decades.