New Delhi: After the GST Council addressed the liquidity concerns of exporters, the commerce and industry ministry plans to prepare a new export strategy to make overseas shipments a major driver of economic growth.
Exports contribute around 20% of India’s gross domestic product.
At a four-hour consultation with export promotion councils, commerce and industry minister Suresh Prabhu gave a patient hearing to issues raised by them and asked them to submit a sector-wise time-bound plan to promote exports.
“We are working on short, medium and long-term strategies. There can be short-term challenges but the future belongs to India. While evolving strategies for integrating with global value chain, domestic issues will also be addressed simultaneously,” Prabhu posted on Twitter.
Commerce secretary Rita Teaotia said the department may have to revise down its goods and services export target of $900 billion by 2020 set in the foreign trade policy (FTP) because of the slow growth in exports in the initial years of the FTP.
The mid-term review of the FTP, which was supposedly on since Nirmala Sitharaman was the commerce minister, may not finally see the light of day.
“We don’t want to wait for a magic day and will respond to challenges faced by exporters as and when they emerge. Whether a formal FTP review statement will be issued or not, commerce minister will take a final call,” Teaotia added.