Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal on Tuesday assured that the government will plan a calibrated import substitution strategy in priority sectors, alongside export promotion, to ensure India reaches its $2 trillion exports target by 2030–31.
During a review meeting on Tuesday with officials from the Director General of Foreign Trade, Additional Secretaries, Department of Commerce, Joint Secretaries of the commodity divisions and other senior officers of the Department of Commerce, Goyal directed them to identify key sectors in consultation with line ministries where import dependence can be strategically reduced while boosting outbound shipments.
"In consultation with the concerned line Ministries, priority sectors will be identified where a clearly defined import substitution strategy can be pursued alongside efforts to boost exports," stated the Ministry.
Goyal said that export growth in the first three weeks of April has remained strong despite the geopolitical crisis. "We held a meeting with exporters amidst the ongoing West Asian conflict, and the export figures are very encouraging," Goyal said.
India has set a total export target of $2 trillion by 2030-31 with merchandise and services exports each accounting for $1 trillion. The Department of Commerce has also planned a detailed Export Monitoring Framework, to identify goals across sectors such as engineering goods, textiles, electronics, pharmaceuticals, chemicals and services.
Each sector-specific task has been assigned to a nodal Joint Secretary and categorised as either supply-side or demand-side. Several measurable key performance indicators align with the short-, medium- and long-term goals.
He also emphasised the need for an IT-enabled platform to track progress in real time, with an automated escalation mechanism for reviews at the secretarial and ministerial levels.
The meeting also reviewed progress under the Export Promotion Mission, with a focus on accelerating implementation and addressing bottlenecks.