India's exports rose marginally by 2.73 per cent to 28.9 billion dollars in September this year. During the period from April-September, exports registered a growth of 6.47 per cent to a total of 163.7 billion dollars. India's export growth had slipped by 2.35 per cent at 26.95 billion dollars last month.Imports during the period grew by 1.57 per cent to 234 billion dollars, leaving a trade deficit of 70.39 billion dollars in the first half of the current fiscal. The trade deficit doubled to more than 14.2 billion dollars in the month due to a surge in gold imports. Trade deficit in September last year stood at 6.12 billion dollars.