As India strengthens its exports of non-petroleum and non-gems & jewellery products, the Southern states are emerging as the country’s export hubs.
Gujarat and Maharashtra continue to be top merchandise exporters but both states posted a decline in their FY25 exports, as per analysis of state-wise exports in the National Import-Export Record for Yearly Analysis of Trade (NIRYAT).
Gujarat’s exports stood at $116.3 billion in FY25, recording a 13 per cent YoY decline and Maharashtra clocked $65.9 billion in exports, a 2 per cent decline.
In contrast, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh grew exports by 36 per cent, 20 per cent, 14 per cent and 5 per cent respectively, in this fiscal year. After Gujarat and Maharashtra in the top two spots, Tamil Nadu ($52.1 billion), Karnataka ($30.5 billion) and Uttar Pradesh ($22 billion) make up the top five states in merchandise exports.
Overall, India exported $437.4 billion worth of goods in FY25, just a tad higher than $437.1 billion in the previous year. Out of this, non-petroleum and non-gems & jewellery exports for FY25 was $344.2 billion as compared to $320.2 billion in the previous year.
Analysis of state-wise share of India’s total merchandise exports reveals that Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana have grown their share from FY24 to FY25. Gujarat has seen a 1.5 percentage points decline, and Maharashtra has seen a 1.2 percentage points rise in share despite a fall in exports.
Analysts note that India’s export basket is now more diversified thanks to schemes such as Production-linked Incentive (PLI) and others. Industries like Electronics, Engineering Goods and textiles, are seeing growth while oil prices has dampened export of petroleum products and gems & jewellery industry too is seeing headwinds.
Out of Tamil Nadu’s $52 billion merchandise exports in FY25, 35 per cent comes from engineering goods, 28 per cent from electronic goods, 10 per cent from ready-made textile garments, and 4 per cent from Cotton yarn, handloom products and others.
“The states doing relatively better in exports are those that have taken steps to diversify their export profile and trade strategies,” Paras Jasrai, Associate Director, India Ratings & Research, said. “Gujarat, which has a high share of petroleum and gems exports, is also getting into areas such as semiconductors but it will yield results only after a few years,” he added.
For instance, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka’s rise in exports can be attributed to their diversified export basket and a significant surge in smartphone exports. Similarly, marine products, drugs and pharmaceuticals and chemicals dominate Andhra Pradesh’s exports.
