Confident of achieving $2 trillion export target by 2030: Goyal

New Delhi: Despite a substantial decline in the outward shipments in the current financial year, India is hopeful to achieve a $2 trillion export target by 2030, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Friday.

“By 2030, I have the courage of conviction and the confidence to reiterate that we shall be a $2 trillion export country,” Goyal said at the Global Economic Policy Forum organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

In the foreign trade policy, which came into effect from April 1, 2023, the government has set an ambitious target of $2 trillion export by 2023. It includes $1 trillion merchandise exports and $ 1 trillion services exports.

India’s overall exports (merchandise and services combined) rose to a record high of $776 billion in 2022-23, nearly double when compared with 2013-14 data. Merchandise exports stood at $450 billion, while services contributed $326 billion during the year.
   
There was around 14% year-on-year increase in India’s overall exports in the financial year 2022-23. However, the outward shipments have been badly hit this year due to slowdown in global demands. India’s overall exports in the first seven months of the current fiscal stood at $437.54 billion, 1.61% lower when compared with the same period last year.

Goyal said an average annual growth of over 15% would be required to achieve the $2 trillion export target.

The minister expressed hope that the government’s favourable policies and investment in infrastructure by the Centre, states as well as private sector, would help achieve the export target.

Indian Missions tasked

He said the Indian Missions across the world have been given a mandate to focus on boosting trade, tourism, and technologies.
 
It has become a part of their KPIs (key performance indicators). The performance is being evaluated to see how much the Missions have impacted India's trade and tourism, he added.

Chief Executive Officer of NITI Aayog BVR Subrahmanyam said India’s services exports are growing at a faster pace and would soon catch up with the merchandise exports.

“While manufacturing exports from India are currently higher than services exports, it is just a matter of time before services exports catch up.  The growth in services trade currently surpasses that of manufacturing in India,” said Subrahmanyam, a former commerce secretary. 

The growth in services trade currently surpasses that of manufacturing in India. India has set a $2 trillion exports target by 2030. A critical consideration is the looming question of where the manufacturing boom will originate and its anticipated time-frame.”