(Adds stocks, rupee in fifth paragraph.) By Kartik Goyal March 2 (Bloomberg) -- India’s exports rose in January for a third straight month as economic recoveries in the U.S. and Europe created demand for the nation’s cars and jewelry. Overseas shipments rose 11.5 percent to $14.3 billion, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry said in a statement in New Delhi today. Exports are rebounding after an average 17.8 percent drop in 2009. Faster exports will help accelerate economic growth to more than 8 percent in the year starting April 1, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee told Bloomberg-UTV television channel on Feb. 28. Mukherjee gave an interest-rate subsidy to exporters of handicrafts, carpets and handlooms in his Feb. 26 budget. “India’s aspiration to achieve higher growth rates will depend a lot on what happens in the developed world,” said Dharmakirti Joshi, an economist at Mumbai-based Crisil Ltd., the local unit of Standard & Poor’s. “The current revival is because of the improvement in global demand.” The key Sensitive stock index extended gains after the report, rising 1.8 percent to 16,732.15 at 2 p.m. on the Bombay Stock Exchange. The rupee was unchanged after strengthening 0.2 percent to 46 against the dollar earlier today. The U.S. economy expanded at a 5.9 percent annual rate in the fourth quarter, marking the best performance in six years. Britain emerged from its recession, with gross domestic product increasing 0.3 percent from the third quarter. A rebound in the U.S. and Europe, India’s biggest export markets, is helping Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. and Rajesh Exports Ltd., the nation’s biggest car and jewelry makers, respectively. Maruti’s exports rose 38.8 percent in February. Rajesh Exports, Su-Raj Diamonds & Jewellery Ltd. and other companies exported 52.3 percent more in January from a year earlier, according to India’s Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council. Mukherjee extended the interest-rate subsidy of 2 percent to more exporters in the budget. Imports in January gained 35.5 percent to $24.7 billion, widening the trade deficit in the month to $10.3 billion, according to the commerce ministry statement. --Editors: Cherian Thomas, Stephanie Phang To contact the reporter on this story: Kartik Goyal in New Delhi at +91-11-4179 2030 or kgoyal@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Chris Anstey at canstey@bloomberg.net

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