Commerce Minister Talks To Industry On Steps To Increase Exports

As the Indian economy recovers from the Covid-19 pandemic and the government setting ambitious goals to make the country an export hub, Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal, met representatives of India Inc on Monday and talked about measures to increase exports.

Goyal noted that the interaction would create a roadmap to build a vibrant and robust industry ecosystem.

He said that it is also time to reflect on how to achieve future targets.

He said that India's average applied import tariff dropped to 15 percent in 2020 from 17.6 percent in 2019, the sharpest annual fall in about a decade-and-a-half.

"Our applied tariffs are way below the bound rate of 50.8 percent (permissible limit under the WTO), and with a positive momentum, India is working in mission mode to achieve the target of $400 billion merchandise exports in 2021-22," the minister said.

Speaking about the aim of a $2 trillion contribution of exports into the economy by 2030, the minister said that the economy is on a path of revival and India received the highest ever FDI inflow in 2020-21.

Regarding employment, the minister said that more than 54,000 startups are providing 5.5 lakh jobs, and more than 20 lakh jobs will be created by 50,000 new startups in the next five years.

Pawan Goenka, Chairman, MD, and CEO, Mahindra & Mahindra Limited; Dilip Chenoy, Member Secretary-General, FICCI; Deepak Sood, Member, Secretary-General, Assocham; and Deepak Bagla Member, CEO, Invest India, were present in the meeting, among others.