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Industry body CII in its latest report has stated that India needs to adopt a multidimensional approach to take the country's merchandise exports to $1 trillion by 2030. The report recommends finalising free trade agreements with large markets, extending RoDTEP to all exports, attracting global firms and addressing domestic manufacturing issues to achieve the target. CII President T V Narendran said ‘With a holistic and aggressive approach, the aim to achieve $1 trillion in merchandise exports by 2030 is indeed achievable if India undertakes a strategic mission’.

In its report 'Achieving $1 trillion in merchandise exports: A Roadmap', the CII has outlined products and destination markets that India should focus on and highlights a range of policy actions towards meeting the target. According to industry body, the need of the hour is for India to integrate closely with global value chains and to attract FDI inflows in its key sectors. Based on the potential to gain global share, 14 products have been identified in the CII report as those which can contribute the most to the increase in exports. These include vehicles, textiles, electrical machinery and equipment, machinery, apparel, chemical products, plastics, pharmaceuticals, etc. The report also identifies 41 countries that offer opportunities to expand exports which must be given special attention.

It said ‘Currently, more than 20 trade deals are under negotiation including those with the UK, Canada, European Union (EU), Australia, United Arab Emirates, and the GCC countries which must be expedited’. Further, non-tariff barriers in existing trade agreements need to be resolved to open market access. It also highlights the need for investment agreements to be well linked to trade arrangements. It said as investment-led exports are a key feature of export capabilities, multinational companies must be encouraged to set up production base in India to enhance the country's presence in global value chains. The rates under the scheme of Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products (RoDTEP) need to be extended to all sectors and aligned to taxes and additional costs that are present in the manufacturing ecosystem. It added that exports of SEZs and EOUs should be included in the scheme.