The performance of India's merchandise exports for the current fiscal began on a positive note with a growth of 27.08 percent in April, a senior official said Friday.

India's exports in April were valued at 8.347 billion U.S. dollars, as against 6.568 billion U.S. dollars in the corresponding month of 2005, shows the statistics on foreign trade data released by the Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics.

"The growth rate witnessed in the last two years is not only being maintained but also accelerated," Indo-Asian News Service quoted Indian Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath as saying.

India's imports, on the other hand, were valued at 12.561 billion U.S. dollars in the period under review, representing an increase of 20.52 percent over 10.423 billion U.S. dollars in the corresponding month of last year.

This was mainly on account of India's surging crude oil bill - which were valued at 4.159 billion U.S. dollars in April this year - 34.65 percent higher than 3.089 billion U.S. dollars in the corresponding month of last year.

The trade deficit also went up accordingly to 4.214 billion U.S. dollars, as against 3.854 billion U.S. dollars in April 2005.

Source: Xinhua