Working on strategy to push growth of exports in goods, services: Piyush Goyal

The government is working on an export strategy to further accelerate the country’s goods and services shipments, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has said. He said the ministry is working on a “very” targeted manner to take the exports to USD 2 trillion by 2030 by addressing concerns of exporters and identifying areas of India’s competitive advantages and strengths. “Export of both goods and services are doing good despite global challenges… We are working on an export strategy to see how we can fast track growth of exports of both goods and services,” Goyal told PTI.

In 2024-25, the exports are expected to cross USD 800 billion. It was USD 778 billion in the previous fiscal year.

Asked about his expectations from the forthcoming Budget for exports, the minister said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has always been “very” supportive of the exporting community.

“I am sure the Prime Minister and the finance minister (Nirmala Sitharaman) will always be proactive to support our exports,” he said.

On concerns of exporters with regards to declining export credit and high interest rates, Goyal said the ministry is looking at these issues holistically and are engaged with the stakeholders concerned. “We are continuously looking at working with the banking system and the ECGC (Export Credit Guarantee Corporation) to find solutions to these concerns of exporters,” he said. According to the Federation of India Export Organisations (FIEO), there was a decline of 5 per cent in export credit between March 2022 (Rs 2,27,452 crore) and March 2024 (Rs 2,17,406 crore).

The apex exporters’ body has urged the government to extend the interest equalisation scheme to help exporters deal with issues at the liquidity front.

The minister said they are discussing the issue of revamping special economic zones (SEZs) with all stakeholders as well as SEZ units.

“And I am sure a holistic solution will come out to address the concerns of SEZs very soon,” he said.

On concerns of dumping of goods from China, he asked the industry to immediately approach the ministry’s arm DGTR (Directorate General of Trade Remedies) if they face unfair competition due to a surge in imports.

“India will not allow any dumping. We will be proactive in our measures,” he added.