India on track to achieve $2 trillion exports by 2030: Piyush Goyal

Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal on Friday exuded confidence that India’s merchandise and services exports will cross USD 2 trillion by 2030 from the current level of USD 765 billion, as he unveiled a “dynamic and responsive” foreign trade policy. He said that goods exports have witnessed good growth considering the current global scenario while services exports may see a quantum jump in the current fiscal.

“We have to meet our exports targets going forward,” said the minister, adding that “we will need to work a bit harder” on goods exports.

“It shouldn’t be that by 2030, services exports cross USD 1 trillion while you (merchandise exports) lag behind. I am confident that we will cross USD 2 trillion by 2030,” Goyal said.

The minister said he has asked the Department of Commerce to undertake a “massive focused concentrated” outreach globally in the next 4-5 months sectorally as well as country-wise through Indian missions abroad with special focus on trade, technology, tourism and investment.

India’s total exports growth decelerated to 13.4 per cent in 2022-23 annually from 36 per cent expansion in the previous financial year as global demand was affected following outbreak of Russia-Ukraine war in February 2022 and other geopolitical reasons.

“We will achieve exports of USD 1 trillion each in goods and services by 2030,” Goyal said.

The Foreign Trade Policy 2023 outlines a host of measures and incentives to boost exports from India. “We always had the capacity to do more, but I feel it needed Prime Minister Narendra Modi to pump up our energies and enthusiasm and see the change witnessed thereafter,” Goyal said.

The WTO’s global trade has forecast growth in world trade to slow down to 1 per cent in 2023 due to global uncertainties.