MUMBAI, July 2 (Reuters) - India mainly relies on Asia for trade but the 27-nation European Union accounts for about a fifth of its exports and more than 13 percent of its imports.
Here are some facts on the trade between India and EU:
-- According to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the India-EU trade balance in the April-October period of the 2009/10 fiscal year was a deficit of $777.4 million for India. Full-year figures for 2009/10 will be released later this year.
-- India exports to the EU amounted to $19.3 billion between April and October, and imports were $20.1 billion. In 2008/09, exports to the EU were $24.9 billion, and imports $27.9 billion. -- The EU accounted for 20.4 percent of exports in the April-October 2009. By comparison, Asia accounted for 28 percent and North America 11.9 percent.
- In the same period, the EU's share in Indian imports was 13.4 percent, compared with 26.6 percent for the whole of Asia and 6.6 percent for North America.
-- Analysts see the euro zone sovereign debt crisis as having little impact on India-EU trade as export demand for goods like engineering, textiles, chemicals and handicrafts is mostly inelastic, though software exports could be hit in the short-run. "Software would be affected but the recovery in exports could happen by the end of 2010 or early next year," said Madan Sabnavis, chief economist at CARE Ratings.
-- The rupee has appreciated 15 percent against the euro so far in 2010. In comparison, the rupee has completely erased its gains against the dollar in 2010 from a rise of 5.3 percent at this year's peak of 44.18 per dollar. (Reporting by Anurag Joshi; Editing by Jan Dahinten)