Vehicles, copper, steel drive 4.86% rise in FY26 engineering exports to $122.4 billion

India’s engineering exports plunged 66.8% to the UAE and 45% to Saudi Arabia in March due to the West Asia crisis, which has impacted cargo ships movement in international waters, industry body EEPC India said Thursday even as the outbound shipments in FY26 were up 4.86% to $122.43 billion, the highest so far.

Outbound shipments to the UAE fell to $237.4 million in March from $714.8 million in the same period of the previous year while to Saudi Arabia, they fell to $247.7 million from $450.5 million in the same period.

Despite the hit in key West Asian markets, the overall engineering sector exports in March were up 1.13% to $10.94 billion.


“The export growth came at a time when global trade faced unprecedented challenges in the form of the geopolitical crisis in the Middle East and West Asia, which blocked one of the key sea routes in the region. Despite these external pressures, India’s overall engineering exports remained positive in FY26 in North America, Europe, Latin America, etc,” said Pankaj Chadha, Chairman, EEPC India.

The US remained the biggest market for Indian engineering exports despite the additional tariff pressures, which were as high as 50%. The shipments rose 2.3% to $19.6 billion.

The share of engineering goods exports in the India’s total merchandise exports in FY26 was 27.71%. The share in March 2026 was 28.11%.

High exports of motor vehicles/cars, copper and its products, iron and steel, electric machinery and equipment, two- and three-wheelers, products of iron and steel, industrial machinery, other construction machinery, and auto components/parts among others drove the engineering goods exports.

Among the major exported product groups, 'aircraft spacecraft and parts', 'medical and scientific instruments' and 'ships, boats and floating structures' witnessed a decline in exports during the fiscal.

“Going forward, the combination of sectoral resilience, market diversification, and targeted policy interventions will remain critical for sustaining export momentum and progressing towards long-term export targets” he said.