India’s engineering goods exports posted robust double-digit growth in June, providing a buffer for the economy that has been significantly impacted by the Middle East conflict.
According to data released on Monday by the Engineering Export Promotion Council (EEPC) India, engineering exports rose 21% year over year to $11.48 billion in June, supported by strong demand from major markets including China, the United States, Germany and Oman.
The performance underscores the engineering sector’s role as a key pillar of India’s export economy at a time when global trade faces heightened geopolitical uncertainty and supply chain disruptions. Engineering products account for more than one-quarter of India’s merchandise exports, making the sector critical to the country’s efforts to narrow its trade deficit, strengthen manufacturing and expand its presence in global supply chains.
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For the April-June quarter, the first quarter of India’s 2026/27 fiscal year, engineering exports increased 18.09% to $34.14 billion, up from $28.91 billion during the same period a year earlier.
The sustained momentum suggests overseas demand for Indian manufactured goods has remained resilient despite higher transportation costs and longer shipping times resulting from instability in the Middle East.
One of the strongest contributors to June’s growth was China.
Engineering exports to China surged 74% from a year earlier to $361.47 million, reflecting stronger demand for Indian industrial products despite broader strategic competition between the two Asian economies. The increase builds on a broader improvement in bilateral trade. India’s overall exports to China rose nearly 37% during the fiscal year ended March to approximately $20 billion, indicating that Chinese demand for Indian products has remained firm even as both countries continue efforts to diversify supply chains.
The United States retained its position as India’s largest export destination for engineering goods. Shipments to the U.S. reached $1.95 billion during June, highlighting continued demand from the world’s largest economy despite concerns about slowing global growth and elevated interest rates.
The strong performance also indicates that India is recording a growing role as an alternative manufacturing hub as multinational companies diversify production away from China under “China Plus One” supply chain strategies.
Among the standout markets, exports to Oman more than quadrupled to nearly $259 million, making it one of the fastest-growing destinations for Indian engineering products.
The sharp increase helped offset weaker demand elsewhere in the Gulf region.
Exports to both the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia declined during June, reflecting the impact of regional geopolitical tensions and trade disruptions. However, the surge in shipments to Oman enabled engineering exports to the broader West Asia and North Africa region to remain in positive territory overall.
India also registered renewed export growth to Turkey, reversing the significant decline recorded last year and signaling broader geographic diversification across export markets.
EEPC India said engineering goods represented 28.4% of India’s total merchandise exports in June, based on the government’s preliminary trade estimates. The sector’s continued expansion has become increasingly important as exporters contend with higher logistics costs stemming from attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea and heightened tensions around the Strait of Hormuz.
Both waterways are among the world’s most strategically important maritime trade routes. Disruptions have forced many shipping companies to reroute vessels around southern Africa, extending delivery times and increasing fuel, insurance and freight expenses.
Those higher transportation costs have placed pressure on exporters across Asia, particularly manufacturers that depend on timely delivery schedules and competitive pricing. Nevertheless, India’s engineering exporters have largely maintained shipment volumes by benefiting from strong overseas demand and diversified export markets.
“The sector has remained resilient despite disruptions to trade flows arising from the crisis in West Asia and the Middle East,” EEPC India Chairman Pankaj Chadha said.
“Engineering goods exports in the last three months of the current fiscal have stayed above $10 billion,” he added, while emphasizing that continued government support would be important to sustain growth amid emerging global risks.
The broad-based nature of the recovery was also evident across product categories.
According to EEPC India, 27 of the sector’s 34 engineering product groups recorded year-over-year export growth during June.
The gains were spread across a wide range of manufactured products, indicating that export strength is not limited to a handful of industries but reflects healthy demand across much of India’s engineering sector.
Some categories, however, continued to struggle.
Exports declined for lead and lead products, internal combustion engines, cranes, lifts and office equipment, suggesting that demand remains uneven across industrial segments.
The latest figures support India’s broader manufacturing ambitions under initiatives such as “Make in India” and the government’s production-linked incentive (PLI) programs, which aim to expand domestic manufacturing capacity, increase exports and position India as a global industrial hub.
As multinational companies continue to diversify supply chains and geopolitical tensions reshape global manufacturing, India’s engineering industry stands to benefit from rising demand for alternative sourcing destinations. Even so, exporters caution that sustained growth will depend on stable global demand, competitive logistics costs and continued policy support.