India is fundamentally reshaping its role in the global economy. For decades, its trade profile was dominated by traditional goods and a robust, but often isolated, services sector.
Today, the country is emerging as a diverse and dynamic export power, shipping sophisticated manufactured goods, advanced services, and high-value pharmaceuticals to the world.
This strategic transformation is centered on the government’s flagship vision: "Make in India for the World." Launched in 2014, the initiative has successfully catalyzed a structural shift, moving India away from a simple raw material and service provider to a reliable manufacturing and technology hub.
This blueprint has demonstrably translated into record figures: India’s total exports surged to an all-time high of $824.9 billion in FY2024-25, marking a robust 6.01% increase over the previous year and a staggering 76% increase since 2014-15.
This momentum is powered by a critical balance: $387.5 billion in services exports and a record $374.1 billion in non-petroleum merchandise exports, highlighting both the strength of its knowledge-driven industries and its growing manufacturing capability.
India’s export performance in FY2024-25 confirms a significant duality: the economy is fueled by a twin engine of high-growth services and structurally diversified merchandise.
Services Exports: The Knowledge Leader: Services exports reached a historic high of $387.5 billion in FY2024-25, demonstrating a significant double-digit growth of 13.6% over the previous year. While the core strength remains IT and Business Process Management (BPM), new-age exports, including financial, professional, and digital services, are rapidly broadening India's global footprint, leveraging its vast pool of skilled human capital.
Merchandise Exports: The Manufacturing Renaissance: Merchandise exports (excluding petroleum) were valued at a record $374.1 billion in FY2024-25, up 6% from the previous year. This non-petroleum growth is the clearest testament to the success of "Make in India," reflecting a deepening integration into complex global supply chains. The top export destinations, including the US, UK, Japan, UAE, and France, accounted for over half of India’s merchandise exports, underscoring both strategic partnerships and diversification.
The structural shift is most evident in the performance of five key sectors, where policy intervention and global market shifts have converged to create new export champions.
The electronics sector, especially mobile phone manufacturing, stands out as the most dramatic success story of the Make in India initiative. Driven primarily by the Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme, India has transformed from a significant mobile phone importer to the third-largest mobile phone exporter globally.
Exponential Growth: Mobile phone exports have soared, increasing by a staggering 127 times from ₹1,500 crore in 2014-15 to ₹2 lakh crore (approximately $24 billion) in 2024-25.
Production Scale: Total electronics manufacturing in India grew exponentially to ₹9.8 lakh crore (approx. $118 billion) in 2024-25, up from ₹2.4 lakh crore a decade earlier. This massive scale is built on the foundation of over 300 mobile manufacturing units, up from just two in 2014.
Future Outlook: Electronics exports surged by over 32.47% to reach $38.57 billion in FY2024-25, making the sector a major component of non-petroleum merchandise exports. This trajectory, propelled by global tech giants establishing major export bases in India, positions the country to potentially become the world's second-largest mobile phone manufacturer.
India has long been recognized as the 'Pharmacy of the World,' a position cemented by its dominance in the generic medicines market, where it accounts for 20% of the global volume and supplies over 60% of the world’s vaccines.
Sustained Growth: Pharmaceutical exports rose by over 102% in the past decade, reaching $30.47 billion in FY 2024-25.
Strategic Markets: The NAFTA region remains the largest export market (nearly 37%), followed by Europe (~19%) and Africa (~13%).
Value Chain Strengthening: The PLI scheme for Pharmaceuticals is designed to address a critical vulnerability: import dependency on China for Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) and Key Starting Materials (KSMs). By incentivizing domestic production of these bulk drugs, India aims to de-risk its supply chains, increase domestic value addition, and accelerate its shift towards high-value products like biologics and complex generics.
The engineering goods sector—a broad category encompassing auto components, industrial machinery, and transportation equipment—is the traditional cornerstone of India’s merchandise exports and a key indicator of its manufacturing depth.
Record Exports: Engineering exports reached an all-time high of $116.67 billion in FY2024-25, registering a 6.74% year-on-year growth and accounting for over 26% of India's total merchandise exports.
Auto and Green-Tech Momentum: Government schemes like the PLI for Automobiles and the FAME India scheme are strategically guiding this sector towards Electric Vehicle (EV) components and green-tech manufacturing. With investments surpassing ₹85,000 crore (approximately $10 billion) committed to the EV ecosystem, this segment is emerging as a critical growth driver for future engineering exports.
India’s vast agrarian base makes it the eighth-largest agricultural exporter worldwide. Exports in this sector, including basmati rice, spices, seafood, and processed foods, reached $46.44 billion in FY2024-25, accounting for roughly 11.7% of total exports.
Regional Reliance: The Middle East (GCC) and ASEAN regions are vital markets, relying heavily on Indian food imports to secure their food supply. The reliability of Indian exports, especially in key commodities like rice and marine products, strengthens India’s geopolitical standing as a responsible supplier.
These labor-intensive sectors remain significant foreign exchange earners, balancing the high-tech focus of the other categories.
Textile Resilience: As the second-largest employer in the country, the textile and apparel sector recorded exports of around $36 billion in FY2024-25. This industry's growth is supported by schemes like the PLI for Textiles and the PM Mitra parks initiative, which aims to create integrated textile manufacturing hubs to enhance cost competitiveness and scale.
Gems and Jewellery: India, a global leader in cut and polished diamonds, clocked exports worth $30.47 billion in FY 2024-25, with the US and UAE acting as the primary markets.
The surge in exports is not accidental; it is the direct result of systemic policy and infrastructure reforms designed to lower costs, enhance scale, and integrate India deeply into global value chains.
| Policy/Scheme | Key Objective & Impact as of FY2025 |
| Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Schemes | Game-Changer. ₹1.76 lakh crore in actual investments realized across 14 sectors. Generated incremental production/sales of over ₹16.5 lakh crore and created over 1.2 million jobs, validating the performance-based incentive model. |
| National Logistics Policy (NLP) & PM Gati Shakti | Aims to reduce India's logistics costs from 13-14% of GDP to a global benchmark of 8% by 2030. The PM Gati Shakti master plan, a ₹100 trillion initiative, accelerates multi-modal infrastructure projects, leading to notable reductions in cargo ship turnaround times at ports. |
| Foreign Trade Policy (FTP 2023) | Facilitates e-commerce exports by raising the consignment value limit to ₹10 lakh. Continues reimbursement schemes like RoDTEP and RoSCTL to neutralize embedded taxes, ensuring Indian goods remain competitive internationally. |
| Ease of Doing Business | Simplification of the regulatory environment by removing over 42,000 compliance requirements and decriminalizing 3,800 provisions, bolstering investor confidence and administrative efficiency for exporters. |
India’s export journey is a powerful testament to the successful translation of the "Make in India for the World" vision into economic reality. The data from FY2024-25—particularly the record total exports of $824.9 billion and the structural ascent of electronics, pharmaceuticals, and engineering goods—shows a nation that is structurally diversifying and integrating into complex global value chains.
By strategically leveraging the PLI schemes to attract global manufacturing and simultaneously investing in next-generation infrastructure through initiatives like PM Gati Shakti, India is mitigating historical challenges like high logistics costs and import dependency on raw materials.
The foundation for sustained, long-term export growth is firmly laid. Moving forward, continued focus on advanced R&D, skill development, and market access will be key to solidifying India's position as a principal, resilient, and indispensable pillar of global trade.