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India's Top 10 largest export categories by financial value

Here's India's top 10 largest export categories, based on their financial value. Know the key export products and their role in the Indian economy

By Forbes India

Published: Aug 11, 2025 06:09:20 PM IST

Updated: Aug 11, 2025 06:19:13 PM IST

Exports are one of India’s strongest economic pillars. Every year, the country ships billions of dollars worth of goods across the globe, with most shipments routed through some of the busiest seaports. From engineering goods and pharmaceuticals to textiles and refined petroleum, India’s export sector is vast and diverse.

The export from India helps us understand trade patterns, investment interests, and future growth opportunities. For policymakers, investors, and businesses, it’s a direct reflection of the sectors shaping the country’s global involvement, beyond just the export trade volume.

In this post, we’ll discuss the top 10 largest export categories by their value and how they continue to hold India’s export landscape steady and thriving.

List of the top 10 products exported from India

Based on the latest report, during April to December 2024, the exports from India were valued at over $602 billion, and the top 10 products exported were:

Rank	Largest export category	Financial value (in $ billion)
1	Mineral fuels, oils, and distillation products	74.27
2	Electrical, electronic equipment	39.36
3	Machinery, nuclear reactors, boilers	32.01
4	Pearls, precious stones, metals, coins	29.25
5	Pharmaceutical products	22.98
6	Vehicles other than railway, tramway	21.75
7	Organic chemicals	20.69
8	Cereals	11.93
9	Iron and steel	10.18
10	Articles of iron or steel	9.93

How is India’s export growth?

According to the PIB press report given by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, in 2023-24, exports from India reached over $778 billion, up by nearly 67 percent from $466 billion a decade earlier. This growth has been made possible by the manufacturing and tech-driven sectors.

Source | Exports from India saw a major growth in the last decade

Merchandise - among the most exported products - reached a $437 billion valuation, supported by a stronger production base and rising demand for electronics, engineering goods, and textiles.

Meanwhile, services exports also touched $341 billion, mainly led by IT, business, and financial services.

As the third-largest country in pharmaceutical and drug production, these were also the most exported products, with valuation growing from $15.07 billion in 2013-14 to almost $28 billion in 2023-24.

Agricultural exports also doubled since 2013-14, growing from $22+ billion to $48 billion in 2023-24.

This upward trend highlights India's growing influence in key global trade segments and sets the context for identifying the largest export categories by value.

What are the major factors driving the export momentum?

Government policies and support: The Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme and New Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) are helping manufacturers scale faster, especially in high-value sectors that are under the largest export categories.

Improved product quality: With stricter quality control processes and better compliance, export products from India meet global standards more consistently, to retain buyer confidence.

Tech-driven manufacturing: Automation, AI, and digitised workflows have made production faster and more efficient, especially in categories like electronics, textiles, and pharmaceuticals, many of which rank in the list of top 10 product exports.

Wider global access: Trade agreements and improved logistics have opened doors to new global markets, helping India diversify its export products.

Where are India’s goods heading?

India has strong ties across global markets. In 2023-24, the US led the charts, accounting for almost 18 percent of India’s merchandise exports. Others like the UAE, Netherlands, China, and Singapore rounded out the top five destinations.

Along with the UK, Saudi Arabia, Bangladesh, Germany, and Italy, these 10 countries made up a total of 51 percent of the total exports from India.

How are government initiatives supporting the export sector?

With easing credit, building better infrastructure, and more, the government is supporting the largest export categories and manufacturing industries with various initiatives in place:

With a sharper focus on e-commerce exports, high-tech sectors, and ease of doing business, the New Foreign Trade Policy, 2023, aims to grow outbound trade volumes and streamline documentation.
Cost-cutting schemes like the Interest Equalisation Scheme help exporters to get loans at more competitive rates. Others like RoDTEP and RoSCTL schemes provide tax relief and duty reimbursement to categories like steel, chemicals, and pharmaceuticals.
The Districts as Export Hubs programme aims to strengthen region-specific enterprises and industries to improve local capacity for production.
PLI scheme focuses on large-scale production across 14 sectors and has already attracted over ₹1.47 lakh crore in investments in 2024, increasing the exports from India.
Through initiatives like PM GatiShakti and the National Logistics Policy, multimodal connectivity has improved. This is crucial for the top 10 products exportation, where delivery time and handling play a big role in maintaining the edge.

Looking ahead, India’s focus is shifting to future-ready sectors. The E-Commerce Export Hub targets $100 billion in e-commerce exports by 2030, giving SMEs and artisans better global access. At the same time, the National Programme for Organic Production (NPOP) is also set to open up new markets for organic produce, with export targets crossing $1 billion by 2025-26.