According to Piyush Goyal, minister of commerce and industry, industries including manufacturing, agriculture, labor-intensive goods, and high-quality goods can all benefit in encouraging exports. The nation’s exports of products and services reached record highs in 2021–2022 of USD 422 billion and USD 254 billion, respectively, bringing the total to USD 676 billion. With total shipments reaching USD 676 billion in 2021–2022, the nation’s exports of products and services reached all-time highs of USD $422 billion and USD $254 billion, respectively.
“A record USD 650 billion in goods and services were sold last year (exports). We plan to set a bigger record this year. As of February, we have surpassed the amount from the previous year. Perhaps this year, we will surpass USD 750 billion “Piyush Goyal stated during his speech at the Raisina Debate. India’s exports decreased in January for the second consecutive month, falling by 6.6% to USD 32.91 billion, as a result of the slowing global demand.
The export of products increased by 8.5% to USD 369.25 billion from April to January of this fiscal year, while the export of services was estimated at USD 272 billion during the same period. According to the minister, industries including manufacturing, agriculture, labor-intensive goods, and high-quality goods might all benefit in encouraging exports. He expressed confidence that India’s exports of goods and services would reach USD 2 trillion by 2030.
When asked why India had the largest export volume in the previous year, the minister responded that it was the outcome of a thorough analysis and substantial planning, including a thorough evaluation of India’s capabilities, the search for new markets, the empowerment of outlying districts to serve as export hubs, and the effective use of all Indian Missions abroad to advance commerce.
In response to a question concerning the growing trade deficit with China, he emphasised that India has been successful in creating high quality goods and services at competitive costs, quickly reducing its dependency on imports, thanks to the high levels of investment going into manufacturing there. He said, “Up until 2000–2001, Indo–China trade was roughly USD 1 billion, and even up until 2004, trade was probably in the USD 4–6 billion range, with a USD 1 billion trade deficit.
Nearly a campaign was launched in 2004 to increase engagement with China, to significantly increase the import of Chinese goods. I don’t want to make this topic political. But between 2004 and 2014, trade expanded quite quickly, and the trade imbalance nearly tripled, according to Goyal. He asserted that the increase in the trade deficit with China should be blamed on the previous administrations.
The prior system in India truly killed Indian manufacturing potential and it never enabled Indian manufacturing to develop, he added, adding that the nation has already held them accountable for more than one occasion and will likely continue to do so.
