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India will achieve $800 billion exports by end of FY25: Goyal
Goyal told reporters that the government’s push to “Make in India” in the past decade has led to creation of world-class modern infrastructure
New Delhi Ten years of far-reaching domestic reforms and international relationships built by the Modi government have catapulted India to the centre stage of the global economy as a dependable business partner, Union commerce & industry minister Piyush Goyal said on Thursday, expressing hope that the growth momentum will be boosted further when the Donald Trump administration takes charge of the world’s largest economy next year.
Goyal told reporters that the government’s push to “Make in India” in the past decade has led to creation of world-class modern infrastructure for both domestic and foreign investors. Citing the country’s digital infrastructure as an example, he said that India is offering cheapest data at 17 cents per gigabyte as compared global average of $3 to $7 in advanced economies. This, he added, was a major incentive for global firms to set up data centres in India.
The minister said that India would achieve record exports at around $800 billion by the end of the current financial year on March 31, 2025 despite global headwinds exacerbated by wars in West Asia and Europe. He stressed the government continues to create the “right ecosystem” for exports of both goods and services. India managed to register a record $776.68 billion in exports in FY24.
While making India self-sufficient is a key policy focus, it is not necessary India should do everything -- so, India is focusing on “strategic sectors” and the sectors where it has competitive advantage, Goyal said.
When asked about US President-elect Trump’s recent statement vowing to impose big tariffs on imports from Canada, Mexico and China, Goyal said that India and the US enjoy strong bilateral ties. “Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the world’s most popular leader today, has managed India’s international relationships better than ever in the past. He has worked with three administrations in the US (Obama, Trump and Biden since 2014),” he said.
“Mr Trump is a friend of India, is a friend of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and I’m sure this friendship will only continue to blossom and grow further as is evident from various comments he has made so far,” Goyal added.
A commerce ministry official, who asked not to be named, said that India’s actual tariffs on most of the items are below the bound rate. “Unlike some of the countries named by Mr Trump, India believes in transparent and rule-based trade. Hence, we do not foresee any major trade issue with the US after the new government takes over. For other minor issues both partners can always sit together and resolve them,” he said.
As per multilateral trade rules, bound rates are the binding level committed by a country beyond which it cannot raise customs duties, and applied rates are the customs duties actually levied on the import of specific products.
Speaking on the expected changes in the US’s trade policies, Goyal said, “We should let the new government [in the US] come and take charge and express their formal and official views. But to the best of my understanding of the situation and my own experience in working with the Trump administration... I do not foresee any problem whatsoever.”
