India has been able to increase exports of goods and services from USD 500 billion in 2021 to USD 776 billion last year : Goyal

NEW DELHI : Commerce and Industry Minister Shri Piyush Goyal on Friday said there will be growth in the country’s exports despite global uncertainties. He, however, indicated that the growth may slow down.

India has been able to increase exports of goods and services by almost 55 per cent — from USD 500 billion in 2021 to USD 776 billion last year, he said.

“Current year, with two conflicts going on around the world, recession setting in the developed economies, we may see that the growth may slow down, but nevertheless, we are confident of growth in the export numbers even in the current year,” Goyal said at a function. A conflict between Israel and Hamas is continuing in the Middle East, while the Ukraine-Russia war is still going on.    

Besides, inflation in developed countries is impacting global demand for goods.

India’s merchandise exports rose 6.21 per cent to USD 33.57 billion in October this year, even as the trade deficit widened to a record high of USD 31.46 billion during the month. Cumulatively, exports during the April-October period this fiscal contracted by 7 per cent to USD 244.89 billion, while imports fell 8.95 per cent to USD 391.96 billion. The minister also urged the corporate world to invest in India without the fear of missing out.

He added that the government is focused on ease of doing business and reduction of compliance burden, decriminalising several laws, and removing some of the redundant laws from the statute book.

Speaking virtually at a separate function, Goyal said India is a global bright spot for investors, where “our market capitalisation has just touched USD 4 trillion two days back”.

India is an economy where the port capacity has doubled in 10 years, functional commercial airports have doubled from 74 to 150 over the last nine years, and are expected to further grow to 225 in the next five years, he added.