IGI Logo

Joint Secretary in the Department of Commerce Amitabh Kumar has said Indian exports showed a turnaround after December last year and are still going strong, while global trade took a hit during the COVID-19 pandemic. Kumar also stressed on increasing India’s share in global exports, which currently stand 1.6 per cent, and also highlighted the need to change the duty structure for some goods. Kumar said ‘Global trade was disrupted significantly during the pandemic. However India’s exports showed a turnaround since December 2020 onwards and performing extremely well thereafter. However, the full potential of trade remains to be tapped. We have to work continuously to increase India’s share in global exports from the current 1.6 per cent’.

He further said ‘We understand that there is a need to bring in required changes in the duty structure of some of the goods in our country’.  He said ‘In so far as the merchandise trade performance is concerned, the government is closely monitoring and pushing hard for a target driven merchandise export performance of $400 billion in the current fiscal by engaging with all stakeholders across states and reaching the districts’. He added ‘Export growth has been robust in 2021-22. Merchandise exports remained above US dollars 30 billion for 7 consecutive months during April to October, and October in particular was an unusually high export performance period with the highest ever merchandise exports being recorded at US dollars 35.65 billion’.

Kumar said the total merchandise export during April to November 2021 was valued at $262.5 billion, a growth of 50.7 per cent as compared to $174.16 billion in April to November 2020-21. He added that the top five export items in April to November 2021-22 were engineering goods, petroleum products, gems and jewellery, organic and inorganic chemicals, and drugs and pharmaceuticals. He said the Department of Commerce is engaging with five countries or regions - the EU, the UK, Canada, Australia and the UAE - for early conclusion of a free trade agreement or FTA.