New Delhi, June 1 (IANS) India's exports rose 36.2 percent to $16.9 billion in April for the sixth straight month after 13 consecutive months of decline, official data released here Tuesday showed.

The exports were $12.4 billion in April a year ago.

The exports were higher due to increased demand for gems and jewellery, textiles, petroleum and engineering products. But the outbound shipments were well below what India exported two years ago.

Trade experts attribute the jump in exports in the last few months mainly to a low base effect. Low base effect makes a small increase appear large when the numbers in the comparable period a year ago are too low.

Also, there are concerns that the ongoing debt crisis in the euro-zone could dampen demand. 'If the European debt crisis spreads, there could be a problem. The EU is an important destination for our exports,' a commerce ministry official said.

Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) Director General Ajay Sahai said the government should constantly review developments in the euro-zone to take timely action, if required.

During April 2010, the country's imports grew by 43.3 percent to $27.3 billion against $19 billion in the year-ago period, data released by the commerce ministry showed. It was mainly on account of growth in manufacturing and increase in domestic demand.

With this, the trade deficit surged to $10.4 billion against $6.6 billion last year.

The oil imports grew by 70.5 percent to $8 billion in April 2010 against $4.7 billion in the corresponding period last year and non-oil imports increased by 34.3 percent to $19.2 billion from $14.3 billion in April 2009.

In the financial year 2009-10, exports dropped 4.7 percent to $176.5 billion mainly due to the global meltdown which had hurt demand.

The exports were in the red for 13 successive months, starting October 2008. They started turning positive in November 2009.

The Indian government has set a target of $200 billion-worth merchandise exports for 2010-11 and wants to double the exports by 2014.

'If the (European) crisis does not extend beyond Greece, then we are well on our way to achieve the $200 billion export target set for the year,' Sahai said.