Kolkata, Jan 21 (IANS): The Engineering Export Promotion Council of India (EEPC) on Saturday said the shut-down of the US Federal government will hit exports to the country which is among the largest destinations for Indian exports.

The US government began shutting down on Saturday for the first time in more than four years after Senate Democrats blocked consideration of a stopgap spending measure to keep the government operating.

"The shutdown of the US Federal government is certainly bad news for the Indian exporters since the American economy is among the largest destinations for exports," EEPC India Chairman Ravi P. Sehgal said.

He further reiterated that for the engineering sector the "US is the number one export destination, giving a robust growth in the current financial year".

Between April-December period of the current fiscal, engineering exports to the US grew by over 50 per cent to $7.5 billion, Sehgal said.

"With as many as 60,000 employees of the US Commerce and Transportation departments being furloughed, the port operations as also the clearing would be hit," he noted with concern.