<b>T N Ninan: </b>India's trade kink

Key reason for the country's stagnating exports is its failure to build a strong manufacturing base

The trade numbers for 2016-17 will be released in the next week or so. They will show total merchandise exports at about $270 billion. This is against a backdrop of exports topping $305 billion in 2011-12, and staying above the 300-mark for the next three years before dropping off sharply in 2015-16. The fall is explained in part by the drop in oil prices since 2014. Consequently, the export of petroleum products has shrunk in value. Even allowing for this, though, the picture is one of stagnant exports over the last five years.

You could argue in defence of this