He pointed out that Europe, the US and Japan accounted for over 60 percent of India's exports.

Referring to the first quarter 6.1 percent GDP growth as a good sign, the minister warned that the second quarter would not be as good on account of the drought situation.

At the same time, he said he expected growth to pick up again in the third and fourth quarters. 'We expect this year's growth to be 6 percent-plus.'

Despite the drought, Mukherjee did not expect rural consumption to come down significantly because of the national rural employment guarantee scheme.

'Rural spending will be more, not less. Rural people will have some money. Why otherwise is consumer goods sale increasing?' he asked.