Exports diversification drive adds $202 million to kitty in FY26

New Delhi: Ships, boats, telecom instruments, pulses, marine products, graphite and explosives drove India's export diversification strategy last fiscal year, with new product and country combinations generating new exports worth $202.2 million.

As per an analysis done by the commerce department, India's export diversification in FY26 was marked by a significant widening of its product-market footprint, with Indian exporters penetrating 1,821 new principal commodity product and country combinations.

Ships, boats and floating structures generated $57 million of additional exports from 19 new markets, while telecom instruments expanded into 20 new markets with exports of $5.8 million and nuclear reactors, industrial boilers and parts garnered $14.3 million from 13 new markets.

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"The trend highlights a gradual shift from traditional commodity-led expansion toward broader participation across high-value manufacturing, engineering, agri-processing and technology-intensive sectors," said an official.

India clocked a record $441.8 billion of merchandise exports in 2025-26, 0.9% higher than the prior financial year.

New Delhi also added 17 new countries for its gold and jewellery exports, and 19 new destinations for silver exports.

The highest number of new markets were added for handloom products at 29, followed by other oil seeds at 24.

As per the analysis, agriculture and food products witnessed broad-based diversification with fresh fruits and non-basmati rice from India seeing rising demand across new destinations. Emerging sectors such as aircraft and spacecraft parts, and consumer electronics also gained traction in new markets.

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Geographic diversification showed growth across Asia, Africa and Latin America although North America continued to dominate India's export basket with shipments of $97.7 billion, or 22.1% of the total exports.

The strongest momentum came from Northeast Asia, where exports surged 21.6% to $41.6 billion, raising the region's share to 9.4% of India's total exports.

"Seven out of the eight countries in the region recorded positive growth, highlighting rising demand for Indian electronics, engineering goods, chemicals and industrial products across advanced Asian manufacturing economies," the official added.

Shipments to Latin America rose 7.8% to $16.4 billion, contributing 3.7% to the country's total exports.