Exports are likely to witness a “double digit growth” this fiscal, despite the challenging global economic scenario and other trade barriers, the Union Commerce Secretary, Anup Wadhawan, said here, on Wednesday.
According to him, the situation remains challenging on both external and internal fronts, but the Government is taking all the necessary action to push growth.
Exports from India witnessed a 9-10 per cent growth in FY19 and stood at $331 billion, amongst the highest in recent times. Indian exports have seen a growth for three years at a stretch.
“This year, despite the challenges on the internal and external front, we are looking at a double digit export growth. But, I cannot speculate a figure,” Wadhawan told reporters on the sidelines of an EEPC seminar. He, however, did not specify any numbers that the Union Commerce Ministry was looking at.
Wadhawan was in the city to inaugurate the EEPC Technology Centre here. This is second such facility for the export promotion council; and it is expected to help exporters, particularly in the MSME sector, to scale up on the technology-led value chain and thereby compete in the global market.
In the first three months of the current fiscal, both exports and imports have been impacted. While exports growth had managed to retain the past levels, imports have fallen leading to improvement in the trade deficit.
According to Wadhawan, the global slowdown was almost visible as per IMF forecast; and this will be factored in the revised Foreign Trade Policy (FTP). The present FTP is valid till March 31, 2020. It is revised every five years.
No Impact of GSP withdrawal
The withdrawal of benefits under GSP or the generalised system of preferences by the US is “not an issue that was relevant now”, he said adding that these benefits would help in not more than three to four per cent of total exports to the US.
“There has been no significant impact on exports, post withdrawal of GSP. In fact, there has been a rise in export of some items where GSP benefits were withdrawn,” Wadhawan maintained.
Recent reports and data from the Trade Promotion Council of India (TPCI) suggest that the exports of Indian goods that enjoyed benefits under the preferential tariff system registered a 32 per cent growth in June.
It may be recalled that US had rolled back export benefit under GSP on several Indian goods earlier in June.