The value of India's exports, including goods and services, grew by 9.5 percent in October compared with exports during the same month a year ago. The growth was driven by the increased pace of exports of gems and industrial goods, but the statistic does not capture the bigger picture. Excluding services, the export of goods, which constitutes 62 percent of overall exports, has actually fallen in 18 of the past 21 months. And that is a worrisome trend for India's economy, especially on top of the plummeting value of merchandise exports, which fell 6 percent to $318 billion in 2014 and another 17 percent to $264 billion last year. Reduced global demand for commodities explains part of the drop, but India cannot blame all of its troubles on outside factors. The rupee has strengthened over the past two years, partly because of the falling values of other currencies, which could...
