India’s merchandise exports crossed $400 billion ( ₹30 lakh crore) for the first time ever in a financial year nine days ahead of the March 31 closing, prompting Prime Minister Narendra Modi to tweet about the milestone.
“India set an ambitious target of $400 billion of goods exports & achieved this target for the first time ever. I congratulate our farmers, weavers, MSMEs, manufacturers, exporters for this success. This is a key milestone in our Aatmanirbhar Bharat journey. #LocalGoesGlobal,” PM Modi tweeted on Wednesday.
According to commerce ministry spokespersons the target set by the government was achieved on March 21 when merchandise exports touched $400.8 billion. They expect additional exports of $10-12 billion in the remaining nine days of this financial year. The current exports figure is already 37% up from the previous fiscal. India’s imports in the current financial year (up to March 21) was about $589 billion. India’s total exports this year, including services, is estimated at around $650 billion.
The commerce ministry set the $400 billion exports target after the PM’s address to exporting community, ambassadors, Indian missions and states on August 6, 2021 on the theme of “Local Goes Global - Make in India for the World”, they said.
{{/usCountry}}The commerce ministry set the $400 billion exports target after the PM’s address to exporting community, ambassadors, Indian missions and states on August 6, 2021 on the theme of “Local Goes Global - Make in India for the World”, they said.
{{/usCountry}}Addressing a press conference, Union commerce minister Piyush Goyal said the target has been achieved well in advance despite several challenges, such as Covid-19 pandemic and geopolitical tensions, including the Russia-Ukraine war, which reflects India’s grit, determination, capability and talent . The new record achieved in 2021-22 beats the previous high, merchandise exports of $330 billion in 2018-19.
Goyal said the government is in discussions with Indian missions, export promotion councils, industry and all other stakeholders to set another ambitious target for the next financial year.
Explain the significance of the achievement, Goyal said: “The world today trusts India. You can also see it in the rankings of the global leaders regularly. Today, Prime Minister is the world’s most trusted leader and that trust percolates into governments, percolates into businesses. Therefore, more and more governments want to do free trade agreements or economic partnerships with India.”
India, which has recently signed a free trade agreement (FTA) with the United Arab Emirates (UAE), is expecting its operationalisation in about six weeks, he said. The UAE has formally ratified the India-UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), he said.
The minister said that India’s trade is fast transforming to cope up with emerging realities, and hence a new and comprehensive Foreign Trade Policy is required; the existing FTP could continue for few more months before being replaced by a new one.
Goyal said the record exports could be achieved because of PM’s vision and a detailed strategy that was put in place. The ministry created targets by countries, products, and export promotion councils, monitored these, and made changes where required, he explained. He said the “whole of government approach” had been taken to the next level to “whole of country approach” to achieve this remarkable target.
“The achievement was not just about meeting targets but about building confidence and about exploring new markets,” he added.
Goyal said engineering goods exports have gone up by nearly 50% compared to the previous year. “Higher engineering exports, apparel and garment exports, etc. indicate that the misconception of India being a major exporter of primary commodities is gradually changing. We are now exporting more value-added and high-end products and this effort by our technology driven industries should continue,” he said. According to him, export of cotton yarn, fabrics, made-ups, handloom products; gems and jewellery, cereals and man-made yarn have registered a growth rate between 50% and 60%.
“The agriculture sector has made noteworthy progress, especially during the pandemic, with India emerging as a major global supplier of food and essential agriculture products. Agriculture exports buoyancy is driven by commodities such as rice (both basmati and non-basmati), marine products, wheat, spices and sugar, among others, recording the highest ever agricultural products export in 2021-22,” he said. According to an official, wheat exports have jumped from about 20 lakh tonnes last year to about 75-76 lakh tonnes this year as demand from India jumped because of Russia-Ukraine war.
India’s exports to Australia, Taiwan, Korea, Bangladesh, Poland, Brazil, Indonesia, Belgium, Saudi Arab, Turkey, Italy, Japan, Canada, USA, South Africa, Netherlands, Nigeria, Egypt and Mexico exceeded the target set for them and those to Thailand, Israel, Nepal, Vietnam, China, France and Sri Lanka were between 90% to 100% of the target, according to officials.
India’s exports of organic and inorganic chemicals, cereals, petroleum products, cotton yarn, fabrics, handloom products, mica, coal and other ores, engineering goods exceeded the target set for them while those of major commodities -- rice, marine products, jute products, carpet, cereal preparations -- electronic goods, coffee, gems and jewellery, and handicrafts were between 90% and 100% of the target, they said.