New Delhi | India has sent its first-ever commercial trial shipments of pomegranates to Australia through sea route, an official statement said on Monday.

At present, the exports are mainly done by air route because of lower volumes and different ripening periods.

The commerce ministry said that after getting the market access for export of Indian pomegranates to Australia, a work plan and Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) for the export were signed in February 2024.

The first air shipment took place in July 2024.

The air shipment helped assess market demand, which led to follow-up sea shipments to optimize cost efficiency.

"The first-ever sea-freight shipment departed from India on December 6, 2024 and arrived in Sydney on January 13 with 5.7 tonne of pomegranates sourced from the Solapur region of Maharashtra," it said adding another commercial sea shipment of 6.56 tonne of Bhagwa variety arrived in Brisbane, Australia, on January 6.