(19 April 2007 2:00 pm)

NEW DELHI: Significant growth in information technology and IT-enabled services among other fields have contributed to a boom in services exports from the country in recent years.

According to the Economic and Social Survey for 2007 by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, India is now the 18th largest exporter of services in the world, with its share in world exports rising from 0.6% in 1990 to 1.8% in 2004.

The report released here today at a function where Commerce Minister Kamal Nath was present stated that India maintained its growth momentum in 2006 with GDP growing at 9.2% – a higher percentage than the 9% achieved in 2005. UNESCAP Under Secretary General Kim Hak-Su was also present.

While there was some deceleration in agriculture, both industry and services performed well over the year. Strong economic performance has generated growing private sector demand for transport, communications, financial services and trade-related activities. This – together with the rapid increase in spending on public administration, social services, rural extension services and defense – has pushed up the share of services in GDP to 55.1% in 2006. Investment demand is also up – with gross domestic investment increasing from 33.8% of GDP in 2005 to 35.1% in 2006.

The report said India is emerging as a force in manufacturing exports. Until recently, India’s services exports, especially those related to outsourcing and IT, have been a success story. But manufacturing exports have surged, growing 37.3% year-on-year in United States dollar terms between April and September 2006.