Engineering exports top $10 billion in Feb 2026 despite global headwinds, shipments to China double

New Delhi: Despite geopolitical conflicts and economic slowdown in several regions of the world, India's engineering goods exports recorded double-digit growth in February 2026 and stayed above US$10 billion.

While engineering shipments to the US and UAE declined in February, some of the key countries that saw positive growth during this period included China, Saudi Arabia, the UK, Singapore, and the Republic of Korea.

Out of 25 key markets for Indian engineering goods exports, positive growth was seen in as many as 17 countries.


Engineering goods exports to the US, India's top market, fell 4.9% year-on-year to US$1.57 billion in February 2026 as compared to US$1.65 billion in the corresponding period last year. Shipments to the second largest market of the UAE declined 14% year-on-year to US$591.93 million during this period.

Notably, engineering goods exports to China more than doubled to US$436.18 million in February 2016 as compared to US$207.45 million in the same month last year.

Commenting on the February exports data, EEPC India Chairman, Pankaj Chadha, said in a statement, " The double-digit growth during the month under review has come as a silver lining for the engineering community, given that the global trade is currently facing serious disruptions due to growing geopolitical issues leading to supply chain breakdown in certain parts of the world and high freight charges. Exporters have been complaining of escalating financial burdens, including war-risk surcharges, high insurance premiums, and extraordinarily high freight costs. Apart from that, energy prices have skyrocketed, and even in many cases, exporters have faced critical raw materials shortages."

Chadha welcomed the government's timely intervention by bringing the Rs 497 crore Resilience & Logistics Intervention for Export Facilitation (RELIEF) scheme to provide credit insurance cover for exporters affected by the war in West Asia.

The EEPC India chairman said he remains hopeful of the continued government support in the future to help in the growth journey of the industry.

While February 2026 continued to be a month of high export growth, the West Asia conflict is set to have its toll in the month of March this year and beyond. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has already indicated that the West Asia crisis could be very challenging not only for India but for the world economy. During February 2026, India’s engineering exports achieved 12.9% year-on-year growth as it went up to US$10.36 billion from US$9.17 billion in February 2025.

On a cumulative basis, engineering exports recorded a 5.25% growth in April-February 2025-26 when it surged to US$111.49 billion from US$105.94 billion during the same period last fiscal.

As per the quick estimates of the government, the share of engineering in total merchandise exports was recorded at 28.3% in February 2026, as against 28.5% in January 2026. The share was recorded at 27.7% on a cumulative basis during the April-February period of 2025-26.

The growth in engineering exports during the first eleven months of the current fiscal year has mainly been driven by significant growth in exports of metal and metal products, machineries and automotive. Among metals, copper and products recorded a growth of 52.53%, iron and steel recorded a growth of 11.54%, and aluminium and products recorded a growth of 2.61%. Industrial machinery registered a growth of 10.47%, and electrical machinery registered a growth of 7.9%. In the automotive sector, motor vehicles and cars registered a 24.72% growth in February this year.