India’s Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu recently stated that India is preparing a specific strategy for exports to each geography as part of its 2019 plan. He noted that outward shipments in 2019 would start driving the country’s economic growth and that Africa and Latin America will receive special focus in the targeted plan. During 2017-18, India’s export shipments hit US $303 billion.
Prabhu said his ministry is in process of creating a template for a free trade agreement with Africa and plans to develop similar plans for Latin America, Central America, South East Asia, Central Asia and South Asia.
Growth is expected in agricultural exports but also in value added products that include high quality steel goods. Prabhu noted that the ministry is seeking partnerships with high technology Japanese and Korean companies to develop those products in conjunction with local firms. The ministry is requesting plans from each Indian state to identify products and companies that may require support or promotion.
To achieve the high export growth objective, entities such as the Federation of Indian Exports Organization (FIEO) stated that the government needs to focus on areas like timely refund of Goods and Services tax, adequate availability of affordable credit, extending export duty benefits, and interest subsidy to merchant exporters.
Prabhu also stated that the Indian economy will quadruple to US $10 trillion by 2035 riding on business-friendly policies, structural reforms and transparency in governance. His ministry has set as a goal for India to be a US $5 trillion economy by 2025 and US $10 trillion by 2035.