Everyone, looking to start an export-import business in India or with India, needs to be aware of India exports/imports and main export products from India to other countries.
If you are planning to build an import and export business in the Indian market, this article will help you figure out which products are most profitable, as well as which ones India exports to the world most.
Before we look at what products India exports to the world,
lets first analyze the advantages and disadvantages of import and export business in India. From which you can draw up the appropriate import and export business strategies in your business.
Related reading: Should you really start an export-import business.
Overview of Indias export-import opportunities and challenges
India is aiming to become a US $ 10,000 billion economy, the 3rd largest in the world. India’s government is trying to build a “new India”. This shows that there will be countless startups, import and export companies gradually forming and developing strongly, and especially focus on the field of electronics, technology, and services in India.
Advantages of starting an export-import business in India
- India’s economy has grown strongly in the last 5 years with 6.8% per year.
- India will be the third-largest economy in the world, behind only to the US and China in 2050
- Manufacturing costs are low in India, which makes products manufactured in India, cheap and gives competitive advantages on the international markets.
- India is the fourth largest market in the world in terms of purchasing power, after the US, China, and Japan.
- India with a population of 1.3 billion of which the middle class has a strong consumption potential. This means the potential for foreign import products is also huge.
With a large market, abundant and well-trained and low-cost labor force, abundant and cheap raw materials, people using English fluently …, India converges many important factors to become an export and also import powerhouse.
However, India still has disadvantages that you need to consider carefully before starting the export-import business in this market.
Disadvantages
The Indian economy has faced many challenges over time, from trade tensions, protectionism … rising in the world.
In India, bureaucracy and poor roads have made the country ranked 130th in the ranking of the World Bank’s Ease of doing business. Millions of customers can only be accessed through dirt-filled minor roads. Suppliers and distributors sometimes operate underground
Strategy of export
Actually, businesses that overcome these challenges will be able to earn a huge profit through exporting businesses in India. Indian is an export-driven country and will remain it for decades.
But in the long run, large Indian import and export businesses may suffer by capital markets, land, and natural resources supply and lack of distribution chain operations.
In order to achieve the highest profit in import and export, product selection is one of the most important factors and determines the success of your business.
A second most important factor for your business is: How to get exporters orders and fulfill them
Below we list the most exported Indian products, you can refer to. Of course, the list is endless, we just give the most typical export products and figures, so you can visualize the export business in India to select suitable products for your import-export business.
Related reading: export-import business opportunities for Indians.
31-main export products from India
1.Refined petroleum
Petroleum products are the main India exports
The refining petroleum industry plays an important part in the Indian economy, with the private sector accounting for about 38% of the total capacity. In 2018, India exported $46.8 billion in refined petroleum.
Despite being a net importer of crude oil, India has become a net exporter of petroleum products after focusing on investment on refineries designed for export, especially in Gujarat.
Essar Oil and RIL companies export engine gasoline, naphtha and diesel to international markets, especially Singapore, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and the Netherlands.
However, the government encourages companies to focus on providing the domestic market before selling abroad.
2.Mineral fuels
Many types of minerals are exploited in large quantities and have a high ranking position in the world’s queue of mineral production, especially coal and brown coal production.
India currently exploits and processes up to 87 types of minerals, including 40 kinds of fuel minerals, 10 metallic minerals, 47 types of nonmetals and 26 other minerals (including minerals for the construction industry).
India exports a volume of minerals worth US $ 30.79 billion. Iron ore is one of India’s key export minerals.
3.Gems, precious stones
India is one of the world’s leading countries in producing, exporting and consuming gemstones and jewelry. This industry plays an important role because of the role of foreign currency collection and job security in the country.
U.A.E, USA, Russia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Latin America, and China are the main countries importing this kind of goods from India. America, Hong Kong, and U.A.E are accounting for 75%. The export value of gemstones and jewelry is USD 35.51 billion in 2016-2017.
4.Machinery and mechanical appliances
Currently, India has become the largest tractor manufacturer in the world with 13 tractor manufacturing units, providing one-third of global tractor production. In 2006-2007, manufactured and sold 263,146 tractors of the size of 25 – 45 horsepower. In contrast, 2017-2018 more than 600 000 tractors were sold on the local market only.
Tractors manufactured by India have been exported to many countries in Africa, the Middle East, Asia, South America, etc. In India 2 new tractor manufacturing factories will be established per year.
The Indian mechanical industry is also producing self-propelled combined harvesters and tractor-driven harvesters. At the same time, the country also makes all kinds of diesel engines, electric motors, and most agricultural machines and equipment.
5.Cars
The automotive industry is growing strongly in India and has attracted the attention of domestic and international automakers. Firms have made a long-term investment, marketing activities, to increase market share in production and consumption in the Indian automotive market.
India is a good market for imported and local car sellers. At the same time, because of the competitive manufacturing environment, also the target country where international carmakers setting up their production units.
Volkswagen and Nissan which has manufacturing units in India are the main exporters in the Indian market with compact SUVs. But Ford is the largest exporter in general, accounting for 52%. The following is Hyundai, exporting 48,000 Cretas in 2016-2017. Maruti Suzuki with the best-selling Vitara Brezza model is also looking for export markets outside of India.
It is expected that the passenger car segment demand will reach 10 million units by 2020.
6.Organic chemicals
Thanks to the increasing urbanization and increasing disposable income per capita, more output has been required from the agricultural sector. It is also required, that fertilizers and organic chemicals will be more environmental and human-friendly. This all has led to the developed organic chemical industry in India. For fine organic chemicals, there is big local and also international demand.
Major export markets with organic, inorganic and agrochemicals: USA, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Brazil; dyes: USA, Turkey, China, Italy, and Brazil. For special chemicals: China, Netherlands, America, France, Malaysia.
7.Pharmaceutical products
The Indian pharmaceutical industry ranks third in the world in size and 14th in value. Sales of all drugs were about US $ 19.22 billion in 2012.
Currently, Indian pharmaceuticals are exported to over 200 countries around the world, but mainly the US, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom, and China markets. The industry employs about 340,000 workers along with about 400,000 doctors and 300,000 pharmacists.
The total number of drug production facilities is about 10,500, of which there are over 8,100 drug production facilities and nearly 2,400 drug production facilities.
Current export products from India include pharmaceutical materials, active ingredients (APIs), finished drugs, drug dosage formulations (FDFs), biopharmaceuticals, and medical services.
The country has the largest number of pharmaceutical factories recognized by the US Drug Control Agency outside the United States.
Drug and pharmaceutical products export business is one of the most lucrative in the world. At the same time, it is also a highly regulated sector and not an easy option for a small exporter.
8. Electrical machinery and equipment
India exports machinery, equipment, technical solutions and services in the electrical and electronic sectors such as manufacturing, transmission, distribution of electricity, electricity-electronics, renewable energy, automotive electricity, automation, storage of electricity, rail power.
As the quality and technological level have improved a lot during the last decade, then Indian made machines are facing interest and demand from the USA, EU and other developed countries.
If you are looking to import or export such machinery in India, then specialized fairs are organized every 2 years, rotating in the big states of India.
9.Iron, steel
India, which accounts for 8% of Asian production of steel, will increase its steel output to meet increasing domestic consumption.
Demand for iron ore, used to produce steel, may not increase at the same speed, however. Steel produced in blast furnaces uses iron ore and coal to produce steel, while electric furnaces melt scrap iron materials.
Currently, many steel and metal companies increasing imports of steel from India, mainly hot rolled steel (the main material to produce all kinds of steel sheets) because the price of imports from India is competitive compared to imports from China.
10.Cotton
The Indian cotton textile industry stands out in the world due to factors such as abundant availability, competitive production costs, vertically integrated production facilities, diverse product range, flexibility in volume.
Each year, India supplies the world market with 25% of cotton and raw materials, reaching a value of about 100 billion USD / year of cotton products, synthetic textiles, artificial silk to 166 countries.
11.Clothing
Clothing and garments are some of the main exported products of India and will remain so for a long time.
Today, Indian clothing exporters can provide products with competitive prices and world-class infrastructure and services to retailers, brands, importers and other manufacturers.
In India, there are about 10 garment manufacturing centers available with a variety of products. Tirupur is located in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, with 1,500 companies producing high quality knitted garments.
12.Kinds of cereals
India’s 2017-2018 grain cereal production has hit a record high of 279.5 million tons, according to the latest USDA report.
This total output is 4.5 million tons higher than the estimated production for the previous crop of 277.5 million tons, according to data released by the Indian Ministry of Agriculture. The main cause of India’s increase in grain production is due to rainfall in the rainy season and various policies from the government.
The Ministry of Agriculture’s estimate includes:
- Wheat production increased from 98.5 to 98.5 million tons of rice in the same period with a record high yield, but wheat acreage decreased.
- Maize production increased from 25.9 million tons to 26.9 million tons, with a record yield of 2.9 tons/ha, compared with 2.7 tons/ha in the previous crop year.
- Bean production increased from 23.1 million tons to 24.5 million tons, thanks to the area and the productivity of beans increased.
13.Seafood
Seafood exports of India reached nearly 1.38 million tons, with a value of 7.08 billion USD in the fiscal year 2017-2018.
In recent years, despite the impact of the global financial crisis and the public debt crisis of Europe, fluctuating in the Middle East and North Africa, the Indian seafood industry has still achieved significant development steps and has become one of the main export industries of this country.
The output and value of shrimp exports increased sharply, lobster productivity was higher, the world prices in the uptrend were favorable conditions, contributing to increasing of the export turnover.
14.Plastics
The average Indian per capita consumption now stands at 25 pounds of plastic per year, about one-tenth of the average American consumption.
The Indian government has set a target of doubling the average plastic consumption per capita by 2022, perhaps an alternative to economic development and promoting advanced production.
15.Textile, apparel and accessories
India’s textile and apparel industry is extremely diverse from manual spinning and weaving industries to modern textile factories with large investment capital. The group of knitting and knitting machines currently accounts for the largest share in the Indian textile industry.
The textile industry is different from other countries because it has a strong link between agriculture and long-standing traditions and textiles.
Exports of the Indian textile industry have been very strong, especially after quota exports were abolished in 2004. Textile exports always account for about 15% of India’s total exports.
Exports also face difficulties: weak infrastructure, high electricity costs, and transactions, high taxes in the states, textile technology are not very ingenious…
16.Aluminum
India has 6 alumina plants, except for the Damanjodi factory with a capacity of 1.58 million tons/year, the remaining factories have small and very small capacity: 0.08 – 0.11; 0.22 – 0.38 and 0.60 million tons/year. In 2004, all six factories operated and produced 2.97 million tons of aluminum (reaching 100% capacity).
India has 6 aluminum electrolysis plants, with a capacity of (13 – 345) thousand tons/year and a total capacity of 0.897 million tons/year. In 2004 the 13,000 tons / year Alpuram / Alwye factory closed. The remaining 5 factories all operate at 100% capacity, producing 0.884 million tons of aluminum.
In 2004 India exploited 10.0 million tons of bauxite, partly used for export.
Aluminum and aluminum equipment facing high demand in developed countries, especially in airplane industries, car industries.
17.Meat and edible meat offal
India is the world’s fifth-largest meat producer and exporter, accounting for 6.9% of global meat production. Last year, India produced 4.50 million tons of meat. In this country, breeding cattle and poultry is considered the most important link to agriculture.
Recently, India’s exports and production of beef all fell due to political and social problems.
Indian buffalo meat exports increased from Rs 35.33 billion (over US $ 526 million) during 2007-2008 to 266.82 billion rupees (nearly US $ 4 billion) in 2015-2016, accounting for approximately 20% of total buffalo meat exports worldwide.
18. Miscellaneous chemical products
India is the third-largest chemical producer in Asia and the sixth-largest in the world. Of these, high-volume chemicals account for 39%, followed by agro-products with 20.3%, specialized chemicals accounting for 19,5%, the rests are pharmaceuticals and biotechnology products.
The Indian chemical and petrochemical industry is one of the most diverse industrial sectors with more than 80,000 commercial products, many of which are being exported to the Middle East and other countries such as Korea, Japan, Singapore, as well as to Europe and USA, China.
19.Coffee, Tea
India 2016-2017 coffee crop exports exceeded the official FAS estimate of 5.5 million 60-kg bags. The large coffee reserve from the 2016/17 crop has boosted the export of coffee beans and instant coffee.
Italy, Germany, and Russia are the leading export markets for green coffee, while Russia, Turkey, and Poland were export markets for instant coffee in 2016 – 2017.
The main tea regions of India are Darjeeling, Assam and Nilgiri / Conoor. Other regions include Dooars, Sikkim, Terai, Himachal Pradesh (including Kangra and Mandi) and Travancore / Kerala.
Darjeeling tea is considered as the king of black teas because of its quality. Assam tea tends to be bold, contains a lot of tannic substances, cool taste, and no bitter, unpleasant taste.
For small and new exporters, coffee and tea are definitely suitable products to start with.
20.Spices
India exported 843,255 tons of spices worth Rs 162.38 billion or 2.48 billion USD.
Chili exports reached the largest turnover with 400,250 tons, worth Rs 50.70 billion, followed by Cumin exports ranked second with 119,000 tons, worth Rs 19.63 billion. Turmeric exports ranked third with 116,500 tons, worth Rs 12.41 billion.
Spices are highly demanded in European countries and present a lucrative export business opportunity for Indians
21.Ships and marine equipment
India has perspectives on shipbuilding
Ships, Vessels, boats are products, India has been manufacturing and exporting from the very old times. There are many important reasons for it.
Firstly, India has cheaper labor compared to other sea-countries such as China, Korea, and Japan. This is an important factor and accounts for 10% of the total investment to successfully build a ship
The second is the domestic demand for large ships, which has strong effect on developing the Indian Shipbuilding Industry.
The third is the local supply of materials, needed in this industry. India is a country with a traditional, raw material manufacturing industries like metals and chemicals. Besides India also has the ability to produce steel.
The fourth is India’s strategic location. India has a long coastline of more than 7500km.
22.Nuclear reactors and related equipment
The construction of a total of 21 nuclear power reactors in India is expected to be completed by 2031. These reactors are located in many states, such as Gujarat, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu …
In addition to the above reactors, India is currently in discussions with France and the United States on cooperation to build a large light-water reactor in the state of Maharashtra and a similar reactor in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh.
According to the official, the current Indian reactors are operating at maximum capacity.
India has an advanced nuclear power equipment industry and is exporting its equipment to overseas as well.
23.Aircraft, Spacecraft, and parts thereof
India is one of the few space-countries.
India has been investing in space programs for years, providing photo services and launching low-cost satellites. In 2008, India conducted a lunar exploration with the Chandrayaan-1.
24.Rice (traditional india export product)
India is the largest rice exporter in the world and in 2017, the country accounted for 25% of global rice trading value of US $ 7.73 billion, mainly due to the competitive cost advantage.
India’s net rice exports reached 12.7 million tons in 2017, with basmati rice exports reaching about 4 million tons, of which nearly 80% of exports will be shipped to Gulf countries, including Iran.
25.Jewelry
The Indian jewelry industry plays an important role in the economy, accounting for 7% of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) and 14% of commodity exports while creating direct jobs for 5 million Indian people.
Gold jewelry exports totaled the US $ 908.98 million in April 2019. This figure is 11% higher than the export value in the same period last year.
Silver jewelry exports soared more than 170% over the previous year. Export value has risen higher from the US $ 31.70 million in April last year to the US $ 85.77 million in April 2019.
26.Diamonds
In terms of diamonds, India has the world’s largest industry for diamond cutting and polishing. This sector is strongly supported by the government and 50 banks with an annual credit in US$ of 3 billion.
In spite of not being the home of huge diamond mines, Surat is still the world’s No. 1 diamond processing place in India.
India Imports also a big volume of raw diamonds and precious stones from other countries, include USA and processes these further for re-export.
27.Automobile parts and accessories.
The Indian auto parts industry is one of the fastest-growing industries and has great potential and export potential.
Previously, this industry was limited to supplying spare parts and accessories for the domestic market only, but has now become one of the automotive accessories centers in Asia and plays a significant role in the world.
India is a supplier of automotive accessories with high volume and high value for car manufacturers such as General Motor, Toyota, Ford, Volkswagen.
Sales increased by 8-10% in 2017/18 and will reach the US $ 100 billion by 2020 with an export value of US $ 80 – 100 billion compared to the current US $ 11.2 billion.
Car parts are high potential export products of India and offer great opportunities for local exporters.
28.Phone system devices
“Made in India” policy has recently increased the import duty on electronic and communications equipment from outside India to 20%. The fact that companies like Xiaomi, Samsung and Apple open manufacturing plants in this country will help them reduce production costs to the maximum.
By 2019, India will produce more than 500 million phones. Each year, the total number of devices shipped accounts for 20-25% of the world’s phones.
Indian mobile phone industry has great potential and phones will be one of the main export products of India in the coming decades.
29.Footwear
Footwear and leather products are traditional export products of India and other Asian countries, include Bangladesh.
The footwear sector is a very important part of the Indian textile industry. In 2007-08, the country’s footwear exports reached an increase of 19.32%.
The sector’s goal was to increase footwear exports to the US $ 4.5 billion by 2010-11, and total exports of leather and footwear products to the US $ 6.98 billion at the time, including footwear accounting for 65% of the total Indian leather.
30.Rubber
It is grown mainly in the southern and southeastern states and is one of the country’s important industrial crops. Rubber planted in Kerala state accounts for 78% of the country’s output with the planted area of 550,000 ha.
The traditional states of rubber are Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Non-traditional states are Karnataka, Goa, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Punjab, Maharashtra, Tripura, Andaman Island and Nicobar.
India is the sixth country in the world (after Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, China, and Malaysia) in producing natural rubber and is the third-largest consumer of this product.
Combining both natural rubber and synthetic rubber, India ranked fourth in the world in terms of consumption after the US, China, and Japan.
31.Linen
One of the reasons linen is more expensive than other cotton fabrics is that linen is not easy to grow and the process of making linen is mostly done manually.
Asian countries, especially India has cheap labour costs, which gives a competitive advantage for producing linen.
Linen is absorbent and also releases the fastest water, it can withstand moisture up to 20% and still does not cause the feeling of moisture, so this is the number one cool fabric for summer days.
Previous was Indian most exported products in volume and total value. Each category previously described can be broken down further to a more specific product.
Extra reading: Import-export business ideas
For a small and starting exporter, it is not enough you know the main export products in India. Main products usually won’t present the most profitable products. Instead, they show the general sectors and industries which has a competitive edge and export potential. A smart exporter makes a further investigation, analyzes to choose the most suitable export product.
To make your life easier, we nextly give you shortlist of Indian export products, suitable especially for small exporters.
India’s top 10 profitable export products for small export-import businesses
In addition to the above-mentioned products, we give you list of products you can import and export at low costs but still bring high profits. Such products would be as:
- Handicraft items
- Silk
- Spice
- Sugar
- Coffee, tea
- Clothes
- Jewelry
- Perfume oil
- Pepper
- Cashew
The advantage of these Indian export products is, that you can import or export a small amount if you do not have a lot of capital, besides these are all essential products with demand anywhere. You can start Export- import business with these products online at home.
It is also important that you find quality and reputable suppliers in India. This is not difficult. We advise you study more from our other blogs to learn how to start an import and export business, how to get export orders.
For seriously interested people, who want to start their own export-import business, we have an online courses an also business mentoring. You can check our programs here: Our export import training programs.