NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's merchandise exports rose for the first time in June, after falling for 18 consecutive months, spurred by increasing commodity shipments, data released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry showed on Friday.
The value of overseas shipments rose 1.27 percent to $22.57 billion compared with a year earlier, while imports slid 7.33 percent to $30.69 billion, leaving a $8.12 billion trade deficit, the data showed.
India's merchandise exports contracted 15.8 percent to $261 billion in the 2015/16 fiscal year ending March, down from $310 billion in the previous year.
(Reporting by Manoj Kumar; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)