Empirical Study on Merchandise Trade in India

An effort in this study is made to analyse the changes in exports, imports and total trade, Export to Import ratio, growth rate in trade, determinants of export, import and total trade in Indian Economy. Statistical tools such as base year Index, export and import ratio, trade balance index, trade openness index and regression models were used to analyse the data covering the period 1990–2015. It was found that mixed trend (positive and negative) in trade balance was observed during the reference period. Exports to imports ratio of India from 2000 to 2014 showed that the ratio declined after 2004 continuously. The annual trend rate was above 9 percent with minor differences among the variables namely exports, imports and total trade. Trade Openness Factor during the reference period witnessed a substantial opening up. GDP was the major factor determining the export, import and total trade performance of the country.