According to reports as Commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal said India’s economy has strong fundamentals and the people have endorsed the government’s performance, both at the Centre and states. The next 25 years are going to be a defining period for the country and a self-confident and self-reliant India is emerging, he said on Friday, a day after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) scored impressive victories in state polls.
“We have recently seen the country witnessing elections in major parts of the country,” Goyal said in his opening address at the seventh edition of the Economic Times Global Business Summit held virtually. “Through the spread of the country, the people of India have endorsed the work of the government, both at the Centre and at the states, working together for good governance, development and the prosperity of our people”, the report said.
The BJP retained power in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Manipur and Goa. Goyal is the leader of the House in the Rajya Sabha.
“We have strong fundamentals in the economy today, highest ever FDI (foreign direct investment), continuously breaking records year after year. Our merchandise export is set to cross $400 billion this year. We are over $375 billion already,” said Goyal, who is also minister for textiles, and consumer affairs, food and public distribution.
“Moody’s recently gave us a rating upgrade, our GST (goods and services tax) collections have been robust despite the third wave of the Covid pandemic and our startup ecosystem continues to grow by leaps and bounds,” he said.
The minister said that India’s service exports-excluding travel, tourism and hospitality-are slated to touch nearly $250 billion in the current year.
Goyal also laid out the vision for the next 25 years.
“We wish to expand our engagement with the rest of the world… and do it from a position of strength”, the report said.
Several Trade Pacts Under Discussion | page 10
Referring to the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) that India recently signed with the United Arab Emirates, he said: “Personally, I look at $150 billion trade with the UAE at the end of five years from now.”
Bilateral trade is currently around $60 billion.
“With the UAE trade deal, we have set a new benchmark for the world to emulate. We made history by delivering the fastest negotiated free trade agreement (FTA)”, the report said.
“We have a breakthrough feature in terms of a permanent safeguard mechanism and stringent rules of origin,” Goyal said, adding that labour-intensive sectors like gems and jewellery, textiles, leather, plastics, engineering goods and pharmaceuticals would benefit and create at least a million jobs.
TRADE PACTS
India, he said, is negotiating newer comprehensive economic partnerships and hopes to have an enhanced accord with Australia.
“We are meeting the trade minister of Canada and hope to take the dialogue with Canada further. We have already launched negotiations with the United Kingdom… the second round of negotiations are underway in London,” the minister said.
Similarly, India plans to have FTAs with the European Union and Israel, which are under discussion, and hopes to launch talks with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries.
Goyal emphasised that Aatmanirbhar Bharat empowers India to become a relevant player in global supply chains.
“Unlike the FTAs of the past, very often causing severe stress in the Indian manufacturing ecosystem, this time we are focusing on reciprocal access and fairness as the key to our negotiations,” Goyal said, adding that extensive stakeholder consultations are being held within the government and with domestic industry, the report said.
He said India is also looking at reviewing some of the existing trade pacts because, with the passage of time, some of them have become lopsided and are not necessarily serving the purpose they were intended for.
Exports
The minister said India is looking to diversify its export markets, in terms of products and destinations. Nearly 40% of exports are focused on seven countries. “In today’s world, greater spread of our export products to different destinations will help create a natural hedge and will also help expand exports,” he said.
Goyal said the PM Gati Shakti national infrastructure masterplan will help make Indian businesses more competitive globally by cutting down logistics costs while the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme, the national single window system, FDI liberalisation, compliance burden reduction, and the ‘one district one product’ plan will help India become more competitive.
He asked industry to invest in India, Make in India for the world and maximise the utilisation of FTAs. (Economic Times)
