An RCA account of India's export competitiveness

This study is an attempt to measure the competitiveness of exported commodities of India at Harmonised System 6-digit level of product classification using Revealed Comparative Advantage (RCA) index. The study revealed that competitive advantage of Textile Sector that contributes about 15 percent to the total reported product lines at HS 6 digit level is losing its share and has to be guarded, as increasing competitive pressure from the other producers of similar product category like China, Pakistan and Bangladesh could be detrimental in future for this export industry of India. However, there has been a positive change in some sectors like Chemicals and Mechanical Equipment, which means that Indian export sector is gaining advantage in the more value-added products which is a good sign for future to be in the competition in the world market. But, within the overall export profile of India, there is no uniform trend in the ‘Competitive Positioned Product’ line and more obvious is that there has been a significant decline in such products for most of the dominant sectors.