Exports grow 36.4% in December to $22.5 bn

India's exports went up 36.4 per cent year-on-year, highest in the last 33-months to $22.5 billion in December 2010.

The country's merchandise exports in the same month last year stood at $16.4 billion.

However, imports contracted 11.1 per cent to $25.13 billion over the same period last year, resulting in a narrow trade deficit of $2.6 billion, according to Commerce Ministry data released in the national capital on Tuesday.

During the April-December period of the current financial year, the country's outbound shipment grew 29.5 per cent to $164.7 billion from $127.1 billion in the same period last year, the data said.

The imports, too, increased 19 per cent to $246.7 billion during the first nine-months of the current financial year from $207.3 billion in the same period last year.

The trade gap during the period stood at $82 billion.

Commerce Secretary Rahul Khullar had earlier said India's export would touch $215-225 billion during the current year.