India's exports may fall to $265-270 bn in FY16: FIEO

The country's exports will range between USD 265-270 billion in 2015-16, sharply lower than the USD 310.5 billion achieved in the previous fiscal, exporters' body FIEO said according to the media report.

"According to our assessment exports for the current fiscal will range between USD 265-270 billion. If this trend continues it may lead to job losses," FIEO Director General Ajay Sahai told PTI.

Exports contracted for the thirteenth month in a row in December 2015 as outward shipments shrank 14.75 per cent to USD 22.2 billion amid a global demand slowdown.

Sahai demanded that the corpus of the exports development fund which currently stands at Rs 200 crore should be enhanced to Rs 3,000-5,000 crore as it was inadequate.

"The export development fund which currently has a corpus of Rs 200 crore is inadequate and should be enhanced to 0.5 to 1 per cent of export value which is anywhere between Rs 3,000 to Rs 5,000 crore. Commerce Ministry has supported this demand. We are now awaiting a response from the Finance Ministry," he said.

During April-December period of the current fiscal, exports dipped 18 per cent to USD 196.6 billion as compared to USD 239.9 billion in the same period of the previous fiscal, according to the data released by the Commerce Ministry.

Besides, FIEO signed an agreement with TUV Rheinland India Pvt Ltd, a group company of TUV Rheinland, Germany to support its members in better understanding the requirements related to standardisation, conformity assessment, product & consumer safety, etc.