BackIndia's exports touch $400 bn target, PM says 'milestone towards self-reliance'
Despite the rise in exports, concerns of a widening trade deficit remains amid rising crude oil and other commodity prices as fallout of the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
PremiumNEW DELHI : India has achieved its ambitious target of exports worth $400 billion in the current financial year (FY22).
Taking to Twitter, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday confirmed the development. India has achieved the record exports with over a week remaining in the fiscal.
He termed the achievement as a milestone in the country's journey towards self reliance - "Atmanirbhar Bharat". Modi also congratulated farmers, weavers, MSMEs among others for the record exports.
"India set an ambitious target of $400 billion of goods exports & achieves this target for the first time ever. I congratulate our farmers, weavers, MSMEs, manufacturers, exporters for this success. This is a key milestone in our Aatmanirbhar Bharat journey," he said.
During the period of April-February, exports had touched $374.81 billion and as per the government projection, total exports in the fiscal may surpass $410 billion.
According to data for February released by the Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry earlier this month, apart from an 88.14% growth in petroleum exports, outbound shipments in February were led by the strong performance of electronic goods, engineering goods, cotton yarn and chemicals, which grew by 34.54%, 32.04%, 33.01%, 25.38%, and 18.02%, respectively.
Despite the rise in exports, concerns of a widening trade deficit remains amid rising crude oil and other commodity prices as fallout of the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
Exports form a key component of the government's 'Atmanirbhar Bharat' (self-reliant India) vision, laid down by the PM during the first wave of Covid-19 in 2020 in a bid to cushion the country from global supply chain disruptions in the future.
Amid several initiatives to turn the country into a manufacturing hub and make a significant presence in the global supply chain, government has come up with production-linked incentive (PLI) schemes in several sectors including automobiles and auto components, textiles and electronics.
Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal on Wednesday tweeted: "PM @NarendraModi ji's clarion call of #LocalGoesGlobal is a reality. Under your visionary leadership, India has scripted history by achieving an ambitious target of $400 Billion of goods export within a single year. Make in India lion is roaring aloud across the world."
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