Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal on Monday said that the share of India's exports in the gross domestic product (GDP) should rise to at least 20 per cent for a five trillion dollar economy, adding that a strong Rupee would be good for exports.
"If we want to be a five trillion dollar economy, our exports of Goods and Services will have to a trillion Dollars at least, - ideally 25 per cent, but at the very least 20 per cent. And why I said 25 per cent because we need to support our import of oil. And therefore our exports will have to really go up by leaps and bounds so that we can continue to finance our imports and strengthen the Rupee in the days to come," said Goyal, delivering the keynote address to the ASSOCHAM Annual Session on "The Great Reset: Reinforcing India's Global Positioning".
"I personally am not of the old school of thought (or) one section of industry or society or exporters which believe that a weak Rupee or a weak currency supports exports. I believe a strong currency reflects the strength of a nation and will always be good for exports, because India, at the end of the day, is a net importer of Goods. A strong currency supports the Indian economy," said Goyal, in his video conference address, throwing open the issue to the wider debate.
Goyal said he is hopeful India's exports will touch 410 billion dollars in the current Financial Year.
"I am delighted that we are at 374 billion dollars until February 2022, i.e. 11 months of this (financial) year. So I do believe that irrespective of problems that we have in the northern parts of Asia-Europe, we are well on track not only to achieve 400 billion dollars, I am hoping closer to 410 (410Bn)," he said.
Goyal called for the reorienting of economic laws to suit the changing needs of the time. "We will have to look at all of our traditional ways of working or doing business afresh," he said.
"There comes a time in the development journey of every country when the country redefines itself afresh and pushes forward with new resolutions. Today, that time has arrived in the development journey of India," said the Commerce minister, quoting Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Goyal said the goal of 'Amrit Kaal' is to ascend to new heights of prosperity for India and the 135 crore citizens of India. Stating that the COVID-19 has presented us with a unique opportunity to attract global manufacturing giants as companies look to become resilient and diversify supply chains, Goyal said we just need to leverage our 'EDGE' to give us an Edge in the global competition-- Economies of Scale, Demographic Dividend, Good Governance and Encourage Innovation in Industry.
Goyal asks the industry to focus on the development of Aspirational districts and Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities so that these can emerge as future export hubs.
The Union minister said the government is identifying focus areas based on our competitive advantage and comparative advantage. Union budget 2022 has reinforced our commitment to an Aatmanirbhar Bharat, he added.
( With inputs from ANI )
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