TEHRAN- Iran exported non-oil commodities valued at $1.1 billion to India during the first six months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21-September 22), the head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA) announced.

According to Mohammad Rezvanifar, India was the fifth top export destination of Iranian non-oil goods in the mentioned six-month period.

According to the data previously released by the Indian Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the value of Iran’s exports to India increased nine percent in the first seven months of 2023, as compared to the same period of time in 2022.

The Indian ministry put the worth of Iran’s exports to India at $393 million in January-August 2023, while the figure was $361 million in the same time span of 2022, IRIB reported.

Petroleum products, raw materials for dye production, and various fruits were the top exported goods to India in the first seven months of 2023. India imported $156 million of petroleum products, $105 million of raw materials for the production of dyes, and $70 million of fruits from Iran during this period.

As reported, the two countries’ trade dropped 27 percent to $1.171 billion in the first seven months of this year from $1.604 billion in the same period of the past year.

The decrease in trade between Iran and India in the first half of 2023 was caused by the drop in the country's exports to Iran. India's exports to Iran in the mentioned seven months experienced a 37 percent drop and reached $778 million. In the January-August of last year, India exported $1.243 billion of goods to Iran.

Rice had the largest share in India's export basket to Iran in the first seven months of this year, accounting for $539 million of the country's total exports to Iran in this period. Fruits with $30 million and tea with $18 million were the second and third top exported goods to Iran, respectively.

Based on the data previously released by the Indian Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the value of Iran’s exports to India increased by 60 percent in 2022 as compared to the preceding year.

The Indian ministry put the worth of Iran’s exports to India at $653 million in 2022, while the figure was $409 million in 2021.

As reported, petroleum products were the major goods imported by India from Iran in the said months.

According to the mentioned data, the value of trade between Iran and India reached $2.5 billion in 2022, rising 48 percent from $1.693 billion in 2021.

During January-December 2022, India’s exports to Iran also increased by 44 percent to stand at $1.847 billion, while the figure was $1.284 billion in 2021.

Rice was India’s major product exported to Iran in the said period during which the country shipped $1.098 billion worth of rice to the Islamic Republic.

MA