New Delhi, April 2 : Rise in outbound shipments of India's 'engineering goods' in March pushed the monthly growth of overall merchandise exports to a new record high. Accordingly, the 'engineering goods' exports jumped 70 per cent in March. The sector was among the major commodity groups of export which recorded positive growth during March 2021 along with iron ore, electronic goods and gems and jewellery. Notably, India's total merchandise exports during this period were $34 billion as compared to $21.49 billion in March 2020 registering a jump of 58.23 per cent. According to EEPC India, the sudden jump in outbound shipments offers hope of a sustained growth in the sector in coming months on the back of vaccine roll-out and containment of virus spread. It expects international trade could reach pre-Covid level 'sooner than expected' as major economies of the world including India have taken steps to boost demand and enhance business activities. "The strong growth in exports of engineering goods in the month of March suggests a bright outlook for the sector but one needs to be cautious before arriving at any conclusion on the basis of short term surge," said EEPC India Chairman Mahesh Desai. "Despite downside risks in view of new virus strains and possible disruption in trade we remain optimistic given that the government has taken a number of measures to make India manufacturing hub and export competitive." As per EEPC India, engineering items account for about 25 per cent of India's total global exports in the goods sector and is one of the largest foreign exchange earners. It employs nearly four million skilled and semi-skilled workers. /IANS