India's exports rose 30.55 per cent to $26.19 billion in November. This spurt in overseas shipment is attributed mainly to improved global demand. It is interesting to see that while China, South Korea, Taiwan, and Singapore, among others, witnessed positive exports growth in the month, India has emerged as a top performer. This indicates that recent government steps, including sops and simplification of GST refund process, have played a positive role in improving the performance of the sector.

Earlier this month, the Centre had announced Rs 8,450 crore incentives for exporters in sectors like leather and agriculture. Later in another positive move, it simplified the process for exporters to claim refunds under the Goods and Services Tax (GST). Input Tax Credit (ITC) and Integrated-GST refunds for exporters are being expedited for quick unlocking of their capital. These twin measures definitely played a positive role and thus deserve praise.

It is encouraging to see that some major sectors including engineering, petroleum, gems & jewellery, organic & inorganic chemicals, marine and pharmaceuticals performed very well in November. Also, overall 24 out of 30 major product groups were in positive territory including petroleum, cotton yarns, fabrics and made-ups and plastic and linoleum. However, decline seen in some sectors like RMG of all products, jute manufacturing and fruits and vegetables is not a good sign and should be taken care of.

Meanwhile, data released by RBI shows that our services exports, which amounted to $ 13.11 billion in October last year, grew by 8 per cent to $14.15 billion in October. Overall, the sector witnessed a surplus of 3.3 per cent to US$ 39.05 billion in April-October FY2017 over a year ago, with 0.9% rise in services imports to US$ 55.44 billion and 1.9 per cent growth in exports to US$ 94.49 billion. These figures are not bad. The services sector contributes to about 55 per cent in India's GDP and it deserves further attention from the government.

I invite your opinions.