India's exports were in line with the Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) 2004-09 targets but for the last fiscal when the country's merchandise trade became a victim of demand recession in the US and Europe and ended flat.
India's merchandise exports recorded a compounded annual growth rate of 21.5 per cent during 2004-05 to 2008-09.
Exports till 2007-08 has been in line with the targets in the trade policy, the Ouctome Budget document said.
"The success story continued into the first half of 2008-09. However, India's exports were adversely affected from September 2008 onwards due to the deepening global economic slowdown," it said.
After growing at 31.3 per cent in the first half 2008-09, exports plunged by 22.3 per cent in the remaining six months, falling short of the $200 billion target. For the fiscal, exports were $168.7 billion, a flat growth of 3.5 per cent.
The FTP had two objectives — doubling India's percentage share of merchandise export and making trade an instrument of economic growth — and "both the objectives of the FTP have been considerably met", it added.
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India's share in the global merchandise trade increased from 0.8 per cent in 2003 to 1.4 per cent in 2008, it said adding the export sector also created a large number of jobs.
The government will unveil the new FTP, which will spell out the priorities segments in the external trade, in August.