The present investigation has been undertaken to examine the growth and performance of Indian trade under the liberalised policy. The study is based on the time series data pertaining to the exports and imports of the commodities obtained from various published sources. The annual compound growth rates of export and import were estimated for last forty five years (1960-2005). The simple statistical tools like percentages; averages etc. were employed for analysis purpose.
It is revealed from the study that, India's total exports and total imports trade is found significantly increasing both in per and post-liberalization period except in the first period (1950 to 1959). The share of agricultural exports has drastically declined from 44 per cent to 10 per cent over a period of time (1960 to 2005). Whereas, the agril. imports has steadily decline during post liberalisation period. Country's balance of trade remains negative in all the decades. In the composition of total exports, the manufactured goods (71.97per cent) followed by mineral, fuel and lubricants (11.51 per cent) had the largest share in the total value of exports. The next group in the order of the exports was the agriculture and allied products (10.24 per cent) although their share in the total value of exports had been declining over the period. The export of fruits and vegetables jumped from ` 216 crores to (1990-91) ` 3,649 crores (2005-06). There is a considerable increase in the export of tea, coffee, rice, cashew kernels, spices and marine products in post-liberalization era.