India’s exports grew 14% to $480 billion in April–September, says Goyal

India's exports grew 14% in the first six months of this financial year to reach $480 billion, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Tuesday.

Speaking at the Young Leaders Discourse Forum at Kirori Mal College in New Delhi, Goyal said India recorded its highest-ever exports of $863 billion last year. To reach this year's target of $1 trillion, which represents 16% growth, India would need to export $520 billion in the remaining six months. He said October "had also been a good month".

Why the target is ambitious

Goyal said the International Monetary Fund had estimated global trade growth at 1.9% in its April–May projections. He said India could have set a $900 billion target, 5% growth, which would itself have been more than twice the projected global rate, but chose $1 trillion instead. He added that the IMF has since revised its global trade growth projection to around 3.5%, and said India's export performance could have been one of the factors.

Message to students

Goyal told the students that a developed India by 2047 was "non-negotiable" and that they would be in their forties when the country marks 100 years of independence. He said India had moved from being a "fragile five" economy to one of the leading economies and the fastest-growing large one, and cited a recent World Bank report that around 50 crore people in India had come out of extreme poverty.

He urged young people to be ambitious, keep reinventing themselves and keep learning. He also spoke about the flexibility the National Education Policy gives students to change courses and earn credits, and about the opportunities offered by 1.1 billion internet users.

The figures on exports are the minister's statements at the event; the release does not give the monthly or sector-wise data behind them.

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Source: official release by the Ministry of Commerce & Industry, issued through the Press Information Bureau, Government of India (03 NOV 2026 2:09PM by PIB Delhi). Read the full official text: Commerce and Industry Minister Shri Piyush Goyal Calls Upon Youth to Lead India’s Journey Towards Becoming a Developed Nation by 2047.