Singapore India's top engineering exports destination; China second: EEPC

But the scenario has changed now due to COVID-19 impact," Engineering Export Promotion Council (EEPC) chairman Ravi Sehgal said.According to the monthly data, the annualised growth in India's exports to Singapore was over 95 per cent at USD 553 million in April 2020 from USD 283 million in the year-ago month.

Singapore has emerged as the top destination for India's engineering exports in April this year, replacing the US, while China, where the COVID-19 pandemic originated, has ranked second, an EEPC study said on Wednesday. Out of top 25 engineering export destinations, only Singapore and China registered positive year-on-year growth in April, while the rest saw a contraction up to 91 per cent in some cases due to disruption in trade in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, it said.

"The US has been the number one market, while the UAE, EU and some SAARC nations were also major destinations so far. But the scenario has changed now due to COVID-19 impact," Engineering Export Promotion Council (EEPC) chairman Ravi Sehgal said.

According to the monthly data, the annualised growth in India's exports to Singapore was over 95 per cent at USD 553 million in April 2020 from USD 283 million in the year-ago month. However, the engineering exports to the US declined by 75 per cent to USD 222 million in the month under review as compared to USD 883 million in the corresponding period last year, the study said.

Exports to China grew by 19 per cent to USD 173 million in April from USD 145 million in the same month last year. According to Sehgal, the engineering exports sector is now facing both external and internal challenges.

There are shortages of raw materials, non-availability of the workforce, unviable fixed costs and disruption in logistics on the domestic front, while restrictions on people's movement, rising trade barriers and geo-political issues are the challenges on the external side, he said. Total engineering exports in April declined by 64 per cent at USD 2.31 billion from USD 6.41 billion in the same month last year.