NEW DELHI: Amidst concerns over widening trade deficit with China, India's engineering exports to the country dropped by 45 per cent to USD 584.10 million during April-September, reflecting subdued demand in some of the core sectors like non-ferrous metals, according to a report.

The analysis by engineering exporters' body EEPC India shows that India's engineering exports are "fast losing a huge Chinese market, falling by annualised 57 per cent in September to USD 92.57 million from USD 216 million a year ago".

"For the cumulative period of April-September this year, the country's engineering exports to China dropped by a sharp 45 per cent to USD 584.10 million over USD 1.06 billion in the first half of the previous fiscal," EEPC India noted.

The sharpest decline in shipments to China was witnessed in non-ferrous metals, as much as 78 per cent from USD 631.17 million in April-September 2015-16 to USD 139.50 million.

"China as an export destination has been a disappointing story this year. This is reflective of continuous weaknesses in the core sectors of the economy, which is also somewhat a case in major economies," EEPC India Chairman T S Bhasin said.

However, neighbouring countries Nepal and Bangladesh sprang a surprise for India's engineering exports, helping reverse its fortunes.

The engineering dispatches to Bangladesh, on the back of a growing economy, rose to USD 146 million in September from USD 121 million in the same month last year.

For the first half of the current fiscal, shipments to Bangladesh went up to USD 919 million from USD 687 million. Likewise, engineering consignments to Nepal for September jumped to USD 178.55 million from USD 64.60 million.

For the April-September period, shipments to the country grew to USD 1.06 billion from USD 755 million. Overall, the country's engineering exports moved up to USD 5 billion in September from USD 4.7 billion during the same month last year.

India's trade deficit with China swelled to USD 52.68 billion in 2015-16, from USD 48.48 billion in the previous fiscal.