Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal on Tuesday said that India’s exports have surpassed $750 billion, and the country is on track to achieve the $2-trillion export target.
“We’ve had a record run of FDI over the last decade with an all-time high every year until March 2022. Exports at about $500 billion in 2021 saw a phenomenal 35 per cent jump to $676 billion last year. Today, we have crossed $750 billion in exports with growth in both goods and services exported. I am sure we can achieve $2 trillion – a trillion each in goods and services respectively,” Goyal said at Assocham’s annual session 2023.
The domestic market is growing steadily, and India has grown from being the 10th largest economy to the 5th largest economy in dollar GDP terms, he added.
In the next four-five years from now, India will be the third largest economy in the world. The past few years have been about building the foundation blocks which are necessary for an economy to have many years of uninterrupted and sustainable growth. There is rarely an economy that has become developed purely on the back of the domestic market, the Minister said.
“Out of $32 trillion international trade, our share is miniscule therefore the delta of possibilities is huge. The kind of new ideas and new products that India has developed in the last few years, our handling of Covid is all reflective of the new spirit that Bharat has. Our ranking in the global innovation index has now improved to 40th rank, ease of doing business ranking has improved to 63rd by 2019,” Goyal said.
The Minister emphasised that growth would have to be sustainable and inclusive, and India will have to focus on ESG commitments. The world sees India as a leader in all these fronts as more people are coming out of poverty and the basic needs of more families are being met.
Renewable energy
Goyal pointed out that renewable energy is an area where India is becoming a global leader. If the country is able to get into hydrogen and green ammonia, it can not only change the domestic sources of energy but also do that for the rest of the world and offer goods and services produced with the least amount of carbon impact making India even more attractive.
“This is the right time and if we miss the right time, history and our kids will never forgive us for having failed them in leaving behind a better country, more progressive and developed than the one we inherited,” he added.