Indian and Australian companies may be able to bid in each other's central government tenders as the bilateral Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA) provides for negotiations, in a chapter on government procurement, to begin in the next 75 days. Officials said India is likely to get access to about $10 billion worth of Australia's official procurement, pegged at $60-65 billion annually.

 

According to the trade pact signed on Friday, a chapter on digital trade will also be negotiated soon. The commerce and industry ministry will begin talks with other ministries on the issue, said officials. 'Within 75 days after the date of signature of this agreement, the negotiation subcommittee shall commence negotiations on amendments to this agreement,' said the ECTA.

 

Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement

This will be 'on a without prejudice basis in areas including inter alia market access for goods and services, a complete product specific rules schedule, a digital trade chapter and a government procurement chapter, to transform this agreement into a Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement,' said the ECTA.

 

The two sides will establish a negotiation subcommittee comprising government representatives for the purpose.

 

'Australia has an MSME (micro, small and medium enterprises) order under which their government procurement is protected, similar to India's public procurement (preference to Make in India) order,' said an official, who did not wish to be identified. Moreover, defence is a large part of the $60-65 billion that is not covered in the ECTA, the official said, explaining that likely gains for India could be in the remaining $10 billion government procurement market.

 

Services Trade

 

Australia agreed to amend its tax law to stop the taxation of offshore income of Indian firms providing technical services in the country. 'This was a long-standing demand of our IT industry that has been met,' said the official.

 

To liberalise services trade, the agreement provides for a transition to a 'negative list' wherein India would have to state the exceptions to services it wants to open up, from a 'positive' list where it spells out the services it can liberalise. 'The world is moving to a negative list and that's how most developed countries negotiate,' said the official.

 

Similar provisions are there in the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership agreement, of which Australia is a member. 'This will be a huge exercise, as the Centre would have to consult every state on their measures, such as regulations, related to services,' said an expert on trade issues, who did not wish to be identified. All services excluded by the states would be put on the negative list.

 

Agri and Wines

 

Australia and India have agreed to undertake cooperation to promote agricultural trade as part of the pact and will now work toward concluding an enhanced agricultural memorandum of understanding (MoU), though there is no direct reference of this in the agreement. 'Since Australia's per unit productivity is higher than ours, the MoU with the agriculture ministry will focus on tech technology and research,' said the official.

 

The pact also provides for duty concessions on wines that would attract investment in India. Industry executives said India's decision to reduce duty on Australian wine will give consumers high-quality premium brands and bring in price rationalisation.

 

India’s goods exports grew 43.2% in 2021-22 to nearly $418 billion dollars, rising over $125 billion over the COVID-hit year 2020-21, with March recording the highest ever outbound shipments worth $40.38 billion, the Commerce and Industry Ministry said on Sunday.

 

The record exports in the year gone by constituted a 33.33% surge over the pre-pandemic levels of 2019-20. Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said total exports were about 5% higher than the $400 billion target for the year, which had been crossed by March 21.

 

The government did not release data on imports that usually accompanies the official monthly export figures. Total merchandise imports had crossed $550 billion by February 2022, leading to a trade deficit of $175.75 billion in the first eleven months of the year. Goods imports in 2020-21 stood at $393.6 billion.

 

A bulk of the merchandise exports growth was attributed to engineering goods and agriculture products’ exports, both of which hit an all-time high in 2021-22. Engineering goods exports grew 46% over the year at $111 billion, of which about $16 billion worth goods were shipped to the U.S. alone. Agricultural exports are reckoned to have crossed $50 billion with a sharp growth in rice, wheat, marine products, coffee and dairy products.    

 

'Even a pandemic like COVID-19 and the war like situation has not deterred our export target for the year. These results reflect what is possible when there is decisive leadership from a leader like PM Narendra Modi with a ‘whole of government’ and ‘whole of nation’ approach,' Mr. Goyal said.

 

The Minister stressed that the growth has occurred in products where small and medium enterprises are active as well as labour-intensive sectors like jute products, textiles, leather, gems and jewellery. Mr. Goyal said the government will continue to work hard to enhance exports from MSMEs and the farm sector and push job creation.

 

He also congratulated farmers for raising their productivity so that wheat exports have grown from 2 lakh tonnes in 2019-20 to 21.55 lakh tonnes last year and over 70 lakh tonnes in 2021-22. About half of this wheat was exported to Bangladesh largely through the Petrapole land border, said Commerce Secretary BVR Subrahmanyam.

 

'We will continue to export wheat in a big way to countries that have been affected by the conflict in Ukraine and Russia (major global wheat suppliers) and hope to export 100 lakh tonnes of wheat this year comfortably,' Mr. Goyal said.

 

Even though a part of the growth in exports may have been driven by rising commodity prices, the performance has been laudable, said Aditi Nayar, chief economist at ICRA, who had expected full year exports to touch $415 billion.

 

‘Push for Value-Add, New Markets’

Mr. Subrahmanyam pointed out that India is no longer just a primary goods exporter and commodities or raw materials that traditionally saw high exports have actually seen a decline in 2021-22, pointing to dipping iron ore and oilmeal exports.

 

'These are the areas where the government is deliberately saying we should manufacture here and export manufactured goods,' he said, adding that there was a greater impetus for finished goods and processed products. 'In textiles, our exports are $35 billion of which raw cotton is just about $3 billion. The rest of it is processed. We have exported mobile phones worth $6 billion,'  

 

'Other than raw cotton, other agricultural exports and iron ore, we are largely a processed goods exporter which is why it is very important for us to have free trade agreements with the developed world, so that value-added exports can grow and create jobs,' Mr. Goyal said.

 

Officials emphasised that the growth in shipments came from diversified industries, including sectors like electronics where India was a large importer and has clocked exports of $15.58 billion in 2021-22 compared to $11 billion in the previous year.

 

Some of the other sectors recording the highest growth included petroleum products largely exported to the UAE, drugs and pharmaceutical products with Netherlands as their biggest buyer. Bangladesh was the biggest importer of Indian chemicals, while China was the biggest procurer of gems and jewellery from India.

 

They also underlined that Indian products’ reach has spread wider with developed countries beginning to import significantly higher value goods.

 

'Indian exports were earlier dominated by neighbouring and ASEAN nations, but this year recorded a significant jump in exports to developed countries like the US, Netherlands, Hong Kong, Singapore, UK, Belgium and Germany,' said Santosh Sarangi, the Director General of Foreign Trade.

 

‘2022-23 Challenges’

 

'You will bear in mind there is a conflict situation going on because of which shipping lines are disturbed, container shortages are there and shipping costs have gone up. Trade and supply chains are affected worldwide, so the fact that we have crossed $40 billion exports in March with all these challenges gives us confidence,' the minister said, adding that the Free Trade Agreements with Australia and the UAE will help boost exports this year.

 

For setting the export target for this year, Mr. Goyal said export promotion councils will work out sectoral possibilities and Indian missions abroad will evaluate prospects in different importing nations, which will then be translated into an ‘ambitious target’.

 

Andhra Pradesh stood in the first place among all the states and Union Territories in the country in terms of fruit production in the 2021-22 financial year, as per the first advance estimates prepared by the Union ministry of agriculture and farmers' welfare.

 

Andhra Pradesh produced about 1.8 crore tonnes of fruits in 2021-22.

 

Horticultural crops are grown on about 18 lakh hectares in Andhra Pradesh with fruit plantations in about 7.5 lakh hectares. Mango, banana, papaya, orange and batavia are the major fruit crops in terms of quantity of production in Andhra Pradesh.

 

There has been a structural shift in the cropping patterns in the state over the last several years. The horticulture sector is growing at a faster pace than agriculture towards making AP a major horticulture hub.

 

Horticulture a growth engine for eco devpt

 

The sector comprises fruits, vegetables, flowers, spices, and plantation crops. The horticulture produce is also being exported to various countries.

 

According to the officials, the returns from horticulture per unit of land are higher as compared to agriculture. This can be attributed to horticulture being a climate resilient alternative, which involves less risk and assures higher income to farmers.

 

Overall, the agrarian state of Andhra Pradesh is heading towards a value addition platform from the conventional agricultural production approach.

 

The horticulture sector also turned out to be an essential component for food and nutritional security in the state.

 

The state government has identified horticulture sector as one of the key growth engines in its economic development.

 

Additional director, department of horticulture, M Venkateswarulu, said that Andhra Pradesh is clocking a 12% growth year on year in the horticulture domain, ranking first place in the country.

 

'Right from extension services, fruit-care activities to capacity building of the farmers, application of latest technologies and post-harvest management, the department is taking all measures to improve the extent and productivity. The department is augmenting the infrastructure as well as creating business linkages to markets for farmers,' said Venkateswarulu.

The India-Australia FTA, officially called the Australia-India Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement, is the first trade agreement signed by India with a developed economy after more than a decade. The pact is expected to give a big push to bilateral trade as it will not only eliminate or lower tariffs on a large number of goods but also address the non-tariff barriers such as technical barriers to trade, apart from sanitary and phytosanitary restrictions.

 

According to government estimates, trade in goods is likely to almost double to $50 billion in five years from about $27 billion at present. As India is not part of any significant regional trading bloc and most major economies the world over are forging bilateral or regional trade pacts with other countries, it is important for India, too, to sign similar agreements, so that it does not lose out on preferential market share and weaken its export competitiveness.

 

India is hopeful that the FTA with Australia will give a positive signal to other developed countries such as the UK, Canada and the EU, who are already on the negotiating table for similar pacts with New Delhi. This would show that India means business and is ready to conclude such agreements fast if a balanced deal could be struck.

 

Is the tariff reduction substantial for both sides?

 

The India-Australia FTA is an ambitious pact with significant commitments to tariff cuts. Australia will provide zero-duty market access for 96.4 per cent value of Indian exports (98 per cent of tariff lines) on the first day of implementation of the agreement.

 

Exports of several labour-intensive sectors, currently facing import duty of 4-5 per cent in Australia, will gain from the immediate duty-free access. These include most textiles and apparel, a few agricultural and fish products, leather, footwear, furniture and sports goods, jewellery, engineering goods, and selected pharmaceuticals and medical devices. Tariffs on the remaining 113 tariff lines, amounting to 3.6 per cent of India’s exports, will be phased out in five years.

 

Australia, too, will gain considerable market access in India with tariffs being eliminated on more than 85 per cent of the Australian goods exports immediately, rising to almost 91 per cent in over 10 years.

 

While tariffs on items such as wool, sheep meat, coal, alumina, metallic ores, and critical minerals will be immediately reduced to zero, on other products such as avocados, onions, cherries, shelled pistachios, macadamias, cashews in-shell, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries and currants, tariffs will be eliminated over the next few years. Import duties will also be slashed on Australian wines, though not eliminated.

 

Has India's sensitivities with respect to agriculture and dairy sectors been addressed?

 

India has managed to completely shield its dairy sector from any tariff reduction under the FTA while excluding most sensitive agriculture items such as chickpeas, walnut, pistachio nut, wheat, rice, bajra, apple, sunflowers seed oil and sugar. Other items in the exclusion list, where no concessions have been extended, include silver, platinum, jewellery, iron ore, and most medical devices.

 

What are the provisions for services?

 

Both countries have decided to facilitate the recognition of professional qualifications, licensing, and registration procedures between professional services bodies. In a boost to Science, Technology, Engineering or Mathematics (STEM), and information and communications technology (ICT) sectors, the length of stay for an Indian student with a bachelor’s degree with first-class honours in the areas will be extended from two to three years. Australia will also provide new access for young Indians to participate in working holidays in the country.

 

How long was the FTA in the making?

 

The India-Australia FTA negotiations first began in 2011 but they were suspended in 2015 as the talks were stuck over issues such as market access for dairy products in India and visa liberalisation for Indian professionals. The negotiations were resumed in September 2021, and this time around things got done in a record time and the pact was signed in just over six months.

 

Is there a plan to deepen this agreement in the future?

 

Yes. Both sides want to deepen the engagement and work towards a Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA). It has been agreed that within 75 days of the signing of the pact, a negotiating subcommittee will start negotiations on issues including other areas for market access for goods and services, a digital trade chapter, and a government procurement chapter to transform the FTA into a CECA.

Saudi Arabia's main state wheat buying agency the Saudi Grains Organization (SAGO) has agreed to buy 625,000 tonnes of wheat in an international tender, SAGO said on Monday.

 

SAGO said it made the purchase at an average price of $422.47 a tonne.

 

That was up sharply from $365.14 a tonne c&f paid in SAGO's previous wheat tender in December.

 

Traders say Saudi Arabia is among importing countries hit by disruption to Ukrainian and Russian grain exports and surging prices of wheat and other commodities.

 

The shipments will be delivered between September and November, the state grains importer said.

 

The tender had sought 355,000 tonnes of hard wheat with 12.5 percent protein content and closed on Friday.

 

Origins offered were the European Union, Black Sea region, North America, South America and Australia with the seller having the option of selecting the origin supplied, SAGO governor Ahmad Al-Fares added in a statement.

 

The shipments will be in 11 consignments distributed among four Saudi Arabian Sea ports.

 

SAGO said these purchases were made in Monday’s tender with arrival period in brackets:

 

Jeddah Sea Port:

 

- 63,000 tonnes from Holbud Limited at $414.26 C&F (Sept 10 - 25)

Yanbu Sea Port:

 

- 63,000 tonnes from Holbud Limited at $413.87 C&F (Sept. 15 - 30)

 

- 65,000 tonnes from Viterra at $423.10 C&F (Sept. 15 - 30)

 

- 63,000 tonnes from Holbud Limited at $414.35 C&F (Oct. 15 - 31)

 

- 60,000 tonnes from Olam at $419.90 C&F (Oct. 15 - 31)

 

- 65,000 tonnes from Viterra at $426.40 C&F (Oct. 15 - 31)

 

- 63,000 tonnes from Holbud Limited at $414.87 C&F (Nov. 10 - 25)

 

Dammam Sea Port:

 

- 65,000 tonnes from Viterra at $436.05 C&F (Sept. 10 - 25)

 

- 63,000 tonnes from Holbud Limited at $436.50 C&F (Sept. 10 - 25)

 

Jizan Sea Port:

 

- 55,000 tonnes from Holbud Limited at $425.00 C&F (Nov. 10 - 25)

India’s coffee exports hit a new high during 2021-22, clocking over a billion dollars for the first time. This latest export milestone is notwithstanding the challenges such as higher freight rates and the ongoing Russia-Ukraine crisis impacting the shipments towards the end of the financial year.

 

Coffee shipments during 2021-22 registered a whopping 42 per cent growth at $1.042 billion over the previous year’s $734.98 million, aided by an increase in volumes and higher realisations. In rupee terms, the shipments are estimated at Rs7,766.77 crore — a 42 per cent growth over the last year’s Rs5,451.90 crore.

 

In volume terms, the coffee shipments also scaled a new high of 4.19 lakh tonnes, a 35 per cent growth over the previous year’s 3.10 lakh tonnes.

 

'We are happy that we have achieved the ambitious export target fixed by the government,' said KG Jagadeesha, CEO and Secretary, Coffee Board. The Commerce Ministry had set an export target of $1.07 billion for fiscal 2022.

 

Jagadeesha said factors such as prevailing high prices due to short supplies in Brazil and Colombia; the increase in Indian production due to higher yields over the last two years; steps taken by the Coffee Board to clear logistical bottlenecks and promote coffees by organising virtual buyer-seller meets with over a dozen countries have contributed to the growth in shipments during 2021-22

 

The average per unit realisations for the Indian exporters were higher by about 5.4 per cent at Rs1,84,965 per tonne during 2021-22 as against Rs1,75,476 in the previous year.

 

Instant coffee segment

 

Ramesh Rajah, president, Coffee Exporters Association, attributed the growth in the shipments to the surge in international prices and post-Covid demand despite several challenges. Exports could have been better, but the hurdles on the high freight rates, container shortage, supply chain issues, and the Russia-Ukraine crisis impacted the instant coffee segment.

 

Russia is the largest buyer of Indian instant coffees, accounting for about 15 per cent of the shipments.

 

Rajah said the instant coffee shipments have been impacted due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict and exporters have been facing problems in realising their payments. The impact of the Russian crisis would be felt in the April-June quarter.

 

Coffee Board’s Jagadeesha admitted that exporters have been facing payment-related issues due to the Russia-Ukraine war and the government’s efforts to resolve it.

 

India exports over two-thirds of the over 3 lakh tonnes of coffee produced. Cheaper coffees are imported by the instant coffee makers to be re-exported as value-added soluble coffees.

 

For the current coffee year 2021-22 ending September, the Coffee Board, in its post-monsoon estimates, had pegged the crop size at 3.48 lakh tonnes, including 2.49 lakh tonnes of Robusta and 99,000 tonnes of Arabicas.

India is aiming to export a record 10 million tonne (MT) of wheat in 2022-23 amid rising global demand because of the Russia-Ukraine war.

 

'We are working with several other ministries – agriculture, railways, shipping — as well as exporters and state governments to increase our wheat exports significantly in the current fiscal,' Piyush Goyal, minister for commerce and industry, said on Sunday.

 

According to estimates by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGF), India exported a record 7 MT of wheat in 2021-22 which was valued at $2.05 billion. Around 50% of the shipments were to Bangladesh in the last fiscal.

 

In 2022-23, India is likely to export wheat worth around $4 billion given that prices are expected to rise in the coming months to around $400 to $430 a tonne (inclusive of all costs), especially in North Africa and South-East Asia countries. The Current prices are in the range of $370-$380 a tonne.

 

Meanwhile, the commerce ministry has set up a task force on wheat exports with representatives from various ministries, including commerce, shipping and railways, and exporters.

 

Officials say given the geopolitical situation, the demand from those countries especially in South-East Asia and North Africa, which used to source wheat from Ukraine and Russia, which have around 25% share in the global wheat trade, would be robust in the coming months.

 

'We will be sending delegations with representatives of key ministries to countries in south-east Asia and North Africa to boost our wheat exports,' M Angamuthu, chairman, Agricultural and Processed Food Products Development Authority (APEDA) told FE.

 

The official delegation will be visiting countries including Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Turkey, Lebanon, Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt and Morocco this month to boost wheat exports to these countries.

 

While the bulk of India’s wheat exports is currently sourced from Madhya Pradesh because of its proximity to the Kandla and Mundra ports, the commerce ministry is also discussing with the shipping ministry to commence exports of wheat from Nhava Sheva (Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra) and Kakinada (Andhra Pradesh) ports.

 

India has been the world’s largest rice exporter in the last decade — export earnings stood at a record $8.7 billion in 2020-21 and crossed $ 9.6 billion in 2021-22. But the country had been a relatively marginal player in global wheat trade until 2020-21.

 

The current wheat stocks with the Food Corporation of India (FCI) are now roughly three times the buffer norm and the ongoing rabi procurement will increase the stocks further. FCI has more than 23 MT of wheat stocks against a buffer norm of 7 MT.

 

Madhya Pradesh has recently announced a waiver of mandi fee and other levies aggregating 3.5% on grain purchases in the state, in a bid to increase wheat exports. The state is the second-biggest producer of wheat in the country. State chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has called a meeting of wheat exporters in Bhopal on Monday.

Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) led National Agricultural Research System (NARS) has developed 1956 high yielding varieties/hybrids of 80 field crops since 2014 which include 173 less water requiring varieties/hybrids of cereals (94), oilseeds (14), pulses (25), fiber crops (8), forages (12) and sugarcane (20).

 

Total of 56 less water requiring varieties/hybrids of field crops have been developed during  2018-19 to 2020-21, comprising of 31 of Cereals (10 of Rice, 7 of Wheat, 3 of Maize, 2 of Sorghum and 9 of Millets); 6 of Oilseeds (2 of Soybean, 2 of Groundnut, 1 of Sesame, 1 of Indian mustard); 10 of Pulses (1 of Urd bean, 4 of Pigeon pea, 1 of Horse gram, 2 of Chickpea, 1 of Lentil and 1 of Faba bean); 2 of Forages (1 each of Fescue grass and Setaria grass); 2 of cotton and 5 of Sugarcane.

 

During last 3 years, 6975.32 quintals (2018-19: 2446.7 q, 2019-20: 2204.45 q and 2020-21:2324.17 q) breeder seed of less water requiring varieties was produced and supplied to various public and private seed production agencies for downstream multiplication as foundation and certified seed by ICAR. A total of 74,43,879 q of certified/ quality seeds of high yielding varieties/hybrids (including stress tolerant) was made available during the years 2019-20 to 2020-21.

 

This information was given by the Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Shri Narendra Singh Tomar in a written reply in Rajya Sabha today.

The total wheat export stood at 70.30 lakh tonnes till March 21 this fiscal, with maximum shipments to Bangladesh followed by Sri Lanka and UAE, Parliament was informed on Friday.

 

As both Ukraine and Russia are major exporters of wheat with more than 25 per cent total share in the global wheat trade, there is scope for India to increase exports of wheat, Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Anupriya Patel said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.

 

'The total export of wheat in terms of quantity during 2021-22 (till 21st March 2022) was 70.30 LMT,' she said.

 

From April 2021 - March 21, 2022, exports of wheat to Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and UAE stood at 39,37,438 tonnes; 5,80,819 tonnes; and 4,69,851 tonnes, respectively.

 

In another reply, she said India has exported seafood products worth USD 7.16 billion in April-February 2021-22, which is an all-time high export of marine products.

 

The US Department of State has banned wild-caught shrimp imports from India on the alleged grounds that the fishing methods being followed in India (types of nets) are adversely affecting the sea turtle population, she said.

 

'India has exported seafood products of value...USD 7,165 million during April-February 2021-22, which is an all-time high export of marine products,' Patel added.

 

In a separate reply, she said that India's merchandise trade with South Asian countries has almost doubled in the last ten years from USD 13.83 billion in 2010-11 to USD 25.45 billion in 2020-21.

 

'Under 'Neighbourhood First' policy, India remains committed to building a connected, integrated, secure and prosperous South Asia,' the minister said.

 

In a separate reply, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said that recognised startups have increased from 726 in 2016-17 to 66,810 in 2021-22 (as of March 28, 2022).

 

Merchandise exports from India have reached USD 417.8 billion in the current financial year. This figure excludes the figures from non-EDI Ports and adding that, it is likely to exceed $418 billion, an all-time high in India’s export history. 

 

India has achieved highest monthly value of merchandise export in March 2022 amounting USD 40.38 billion, an increase of 14.53% over USD 35.26 billion in March 2021 and an increase of 87.89% over USD 21.49 billion in March 2020.

 

The exports have witnessed a significant growth in non-petroleum goods also in April 2021-March 2022 which was USD 352.76 billion, an increase of 32.62% over USD 266.00 billion in April 2020-March 2021 and an increase of 29.66% over USD 272.07 billion in April 2019-March 2020.

 

Addressing a press conference here today, Minister of Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and Textiles, Shri Piyush Goyal said that India had truly gone from ‘local to global’ in response to the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s call. 

 

The Minister said that every Indian should be proud of the pace at which India is achieving ‘atmanirbharta’ while ensuring that every Indian benefits from this progress. He added that India has been able to achieve this spectacular target under the leadership of the Prime Minister.

 

Expressing confidence that India's economy is poised to break a number of records, Shri Goyal said that PM Modi had set lofty goals for India and that our nation is extremely capable of achieving such immense goals. To make Possible the Impossible, tirelessly strive for it and collectively work towards it, he added.

 

Shri Goyal said the ‘never say die’ spirit of our exporters, the relentless effort by EPCs and Industry Association, the coordination among different GOI Departments and state governments reflecting the ‘whole of government approach’ has resulted in this stupendous achievement. 

 

Every sector of the economy, every farmer, every entrepreneur, every MSME and state governments worked together to achieve this lucrative goal, he said.

 

India’s diversified export portfolio in 2021-22 show India’s manufacturing abilities as well as growth in hi-tech goods, electronics and agricultural products. 

 

Exports of major commodity that recorded a positive growth during April 2021-March 2022 over April-March 2020-21 are Petroleum Products (152.1%), Cotton Yarn/Fabrics/Madeups, Handloom Products Etc. (55.1%), Other Cereals (52.2%), Gems and Jewellery (49.6%), Man-Made Yarn/Fabs/Madeups Etc.( 46.9%), Engineering Goods (45.5%), Coffee (49%), Electronic Goods (40.5%), Jute Mfg. Including Floor Covering (36.2%), Leather and Leather Manufactures (32.2%), Organic & Inorganic Chemical (32.0%), Plastic and Linoleum (31.1%), Marine Products (30.0%), Rmg Of All Textiles (29.9%), Handicrafts Excl. Hand Made Carpet (22.0%) and Cereal Preparations and Miscellaneous Processed Item (21.9%)  recorded a positive growth of, and 21.9% respectively over April 2020-March 2021.

 

Apart from diversified range of merchandise goods exported during 2021-22, India’s merchandise exports have also seen a significant increase to different countries, especially, developed countries. Exports to USA, UAE, Bangladesh, Netherlands, Singapore, Hong Kong, UK, Belgium and Germany grew by 46.4%, 66.9%, 64.5%, 90.5%, 26.8%, 7.8%, 28%, 90.4% and 21.1% respectively over April 2020- March 2021.

 

Shri Goyal said, notwithstanding the challenges posed by successive waves of Covid (2nd and 3rd wave), India’s merchandise trade performance has shown impressive growth and exports remained above USD 30 billion for twelve consecutive months during April 2021 to March 2022. 

 

The Prime Minister called for ‘local to global’ and today India's products are in great demand all over the world. This is a testament to the strength of leadership. PM now focuses extensively on 'whole of nation approach', he said.

 

One of the impressive growth has been seen in Agriculture sector and especially during the pandemic India emerged as a major global supplier of food / essential agriculture products. Agriculture exports buoyancy is driven by commodities such as rice (both basmati and non-basmati), marine products, wheat, spices and sugar, among others, recording the highest ever agricultural products export in 2021-22. 

 

Higher agricultural exports signify the ability of Indian farmers to meet the requirement of 1.35 billion population and yet produce a surplus to export to rest of the world. Integration into global market will allow our farmers to be more competitive, quality conscious and at the same time realize better prices for their produce.

 

When we set a target of $50 billion exports of Agriculture produce, then few imagined this would be possible. But today I want to congratulate our farmers who have grown more produce despite the Covid-19. The exports growth has helped farmers and labour intensive sectors and MSMEs. The government places special emphasis on these sectors, Shri Goyal said.

 

The Minister also assured that India will step up wheat supplies to countries hit by the Ukraine War.

'We will continue to export wheat in a big way to meet needs in countries who are not getting supplies from conflict areas. We are likely to exceed our wheat exports over 10 million tonnes in 2022-23. Our farmers are focused on increasing production,' he said.

 

The government has been working around the clock to provide a conducive environment and infrastructure for our industry and exporters to enhance their export performance. Policies and schemes aligned with the goal are being introduced and implemented for their benefit. The smooth roll out of RoDTEP and ROSCTL even in the midst of the pandemic reflects the strong resolve of the government to walk the talk. The Interest Equalisation Scheme has been extended to exporters and is likely to benefit a large number of MSME exporters. 

 

Shri Goyal said the Government is now working on rolling out the District Export Hub Initiative to strengthen the export infrastructure, logistics at district level to facilitate exports.

 

'We have succeeded in creating awareness about exports in every district through ODOP and PLIs,' he said.

 

Rigorous efforts for domestic capacity enhancement for deepening integration in the Global Value Chains are being made by working in close partnership with the industry to identify areas where India’s competitive advantages lay. The Government is working on strengthening our capabilities and create for the world on the lines of Make in India. Production Linked Incentive (PLI) schemes for 13 key sectors of manufacturing starting from FY 2021-22 have been announced.