India's exports, for the first time, crossed the $51 billion-mark in 2002-03, increasing the possibility of achieving the one per cent share of the world trade much ahead of the targeted year 2007.

Releasing the trade figures, Commerce Minister Arun Jaitley on Monday said exports touched $51.7 billion, recording 18.05 per cent growth in 2002-03 over $43.8 billion in the previous year.

The trade deficit, however, worsened to $7.6 billion in 2002-03 as compared to $6.9 billion in the previous year, mainly on account of high oil import bill.

Citing the 18.05 per cent rise in exports, Jaitley said with this, India's share in world exports in merchandise goods has increased from 0.4 per cent in 1992-93 to 0.7 per cent in 2001-02 and 0.8 per cent in 2003.

"If the present trend is maintained, we might even reach one per cent share in world exports before the target year of 2007," he said.

This achievement has come at a time when the world economy was struggling to revive and many of the developed countries had found it difficult to achieve the growth in their exports, he added.

He said US' exports dipped by five per cent and Canada by three per cent, while Indonesia recorded zero per cent, UK posted one per cent and Japan and Singapore three per cent each.

Jaitley said the achievement in merchandise export implied that it had more than doubled in dollar terms in the last 10 years and trebled in rupee terms.

India's imports was valued at $59.3 billion in 2002-03, recording 17.03 per cent over $50.7 billion in the previous year due to 26.77 per cent hike in oil import bill. The country's oil imports amounted to $17.7 billon in 2002-03 as compared to $14.01 billion in the previous year.

While India's exports in March alone stood at $4.7 billion (15.28 per cent growth), the imports were valued at $5.5 billion (26.1 per cent growth).

India's exports registered the maximum growth to China at 96 per cent, followed by Singapore (59 per cent), UAE (33 per cent), United States (29 per cent), Japan (24 per cent) and European Union (15 per cent).

Among the export basket, iron ore registered 112.9 per cent, followed by rice (47.6 per cent), handicrafts (26 per cent), mica, coal and coke (24.9 per cent), man-made yarn and engineering products (24 per cent each), gems and jewellery (over 18 per cent each) and marine products (13.1 per cent).