India Sets a Target of USD 400 billion Merchandise Exports in 2021-22

· Highest ever merchandise exports in a quarter (Q1 2021-22, USD 95 billion) in the history of India

· Despite COVID-19, labour-intensive sectors (engineering goods, rice, marine products, etc.) saw a rapid export growth

· Highest ever FDI inflow of USD 81.72 billion in 2020-21

· Number of startups recognised by DPIIT goes up to 50,000, spread across 623 districts

· Piyush Goyal said, “the world sees India as the trusted and reliable partner”

The Minister of Commerce & Industry, Railways and Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, Piyush Goyal held a press conference on 2 July, 2021 to showcase the achievements of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry in Q1 (April - June) of 2021-22. He mentioned how an ambitious target of USD 400 billion exports has been set for 2021-22.

Piyush Goyal said that sector specific interventions, involvement of all the stakeholders and functioning of the Government as a whole helped in achieving the growth. Simplification of procedures, extension of timelines and licences, all of that has resulted in the record performance of exports, he added. He specially thanked the Hon’ble Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji for leading from the front, and holding discussions with various stakeholders through webinars after the Union budget, and encouraging everyone to put in their best.

Piyush Goyal further said that the performance of the services sector has also been excellent, and despite the pandemic, almost 97% of 2019-20 service export levels were achieved in the last FY. He said that after deliberations with the stakeholders, he is confident that USD 350 billion service exports can be achieved by 2025, and may even go up to USD 500 billion very soon.

The press conference was also attended by Ministers of State for Commerce & Industry, Som Parkash and Hardeep Singh Puri. The Secretaries of the Department of Commerce and DPIIT then briefed the media about the achievements of their respective departments.

Highest Ever Merchandise Exports in the history of India

Highest ever merchandise exports of USD 95 billion in Q1 of 2021-22 has been achieved in the history of India. This is 85% higher than exports of Q1 of 2020-21 and 18% higher than the exports of Q1 of 2019-20. It is also 16% more than the previous highest Q1 exports of 2018-19 (USD 82 billion) and is higher than the earlier peak of exports in Q4 of 2020-21 (USD 90 billion).

Labour intensive sectors seeing rapid export growth

Several Labour-Intensive sectors have seen a rapid export growth. The exports in the engineering goods sector has increased by USD 5.2 billion over Q1 of 2019-20. Likewise, Rice exports growth has remained positive since May 2020 and rose by 37% in Q1 of 2021-22 compared to Q1 of 2019-20

India’s Exports Performance Vis-a-vis Major Economies in April 2021

India showcased robust export performance in April 2020 compared to major economies of the world. As compared to April 2019, India’s exports growth during April 2021 was higher than other major advanced economies like European Union, Japan, USA, Republic of Korea & United Kingdom

Record FDI Inflows

India received the highest ever FDI inflow in 2020-21 of USD 81.72 billion. This is higher by 10% compared to USD 74.39 billion achieved in 2019-20. The positive momentum continues with FDI inflow of USD 6.24 billion during April 2021, which is 38% higher than April 2020.

Startup India

Number of startups recognised by DPIIT has crossed 50,000 and is spread across 623 districts in India. With these startups nearly 1.8 lakh formal jobs have been created by 16,000+ recognised startups in 2020-21. Several times more have benefited from the Startup ecosystem.

Reducing Compliance Burden

To improve the ease of doing business and reduce the compliance burden 6,426 compliances have been reduced in Phase-I. 3,177 compliances are being been reduced in Phase II. The timeline for Phase I was 31st March 2021 & Phase II is 15th August 2021.

Investment Clearance Cell

The National Single Window System is a one-stop digital platform to obtain clearances & approvals. In the phase-1 of integration, 43 Depts/Ministries & 14 States Single Window Systems are being on-boarded. The pre-launch version is undergoing extensive testing and we are gearing up for a soft launch.

The Hon’ble Minister concluded by saying that the world sees India as the trusted and reliable partner, and has more confidence in India’s capability to provide quality products and services on time. With the goods and services gaining momentum, a large number of employment opportunities will be generated, the economy will strengthen, revenues will increase, and the government will be able to help the disadvantaged sections in a more substantive manner.