Exports growth pegged at 8% in Jan

India's exports are estimated to have grown by about eight per cent to $14 billion in January, retaining the positive trend for the third month in a row after contraction for 13 months.

"In January, I expect exports to be $14 billion," commerce secretary Rahul Khullar told reporters in New Delhi on Tuesday.

The country's exports, which came under severe pressure due to the global slowdown after October 2008, had aggregated a shade lower than $13 billion in January 2009.

In the backdrop of exports moving in tandem with a smart economic recovery, Khullar asked exporters and the industry to expect partial withdrawal of fiscal stimulus.

"You (industry) should be ready for some cut back," he said on the sidelines of an Assocham function in New Delhi.

Commerce and industry minister Anand Sharma had also spoken on the same lines yesterday when he said, "Those sectors which have moved into a very robust growth level, there we can consider (withdrawal of stimulus)".

After a 13-month contraction with demand slowdown in the western markets, India's exports started recovering from November.

However, because of a sharp decline till October, the April-December shipments showed contraction of about 20 per cent. The official data for January is yet to be released.