India's exports, which had been on a downslide since October last year, are likely to stabilise in the first quarter of the next fiscal and then tread ahead, Commerce Secretary G K Pillai said on Thursday."I think exports are getting slowly stabilised... I expect in April, May, June, the exports to stabilise and thereafter there would be a recovery," Pillai said adding the decline is expected to bottom out in this month.
After registering a handsome growth of over 30 percent in the first half of the financial year, Indian exports entered into the negative territory and plunged by 12.1 percent in October 2008.
In November exports dipped 9.9 percent, while in December it fell 1.1 percent, in January 15.9 percent and an estimated 21 percent in February.
The government expects the exports, reeling under the impact of global slowdown, to remain in the range of USD 170 billion in 2008-09.
India has lowered its export target to USD 175 billion from USD 200 billion for this fiscal while outward shipments in 2007-08 were valued at USD 162 billion dollar.
Pillai said sectors like textiles, gems and jewellery and leather have started showing signs of stabilisation.
"Textiles (sector) is now stablising. Most textiles people are now saying ... they have got orders for 60-90 days," he said adding "...so lack of orders is slowly going away."
Slowdown in the US and European Union, which account for 60 percent of the country's textile exports, has caused the sector to see rough times in the form of falling shipments and job loss for seven lakh people.