Commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal on Saturday exhorted the spice industry to aspire to double exports to $10 billion in the next five years and boost focus on the quality of products. Instead of doubling exports by 2030 (as was targeted earlier), the industry should do it by 2027 and then further double the despatches by 2032, he said, while addressing farmers and exporters at an event organised by the Spices Board.
Goyal said, “We must also look at Unicorns in the spices sector. We want to see many young start-ups work in this sector, and create new jobs especially in remote areas.”
The minister said while India is a global leader in spices, it doesn’t currently enjoy a cost advantage against many countries of Asia and Africa. This means “we should focus on increasing the exports of value-added spices products”, he added.
“’Therefore, our aim should be to sustain the competitive edge of the Indian spice industry and give added thrust to meet stringent quality and food safety standards,” Goyal said. All trade barriers that are recently slapped against Indian products revolve around quality issues.
Calling on farmers and the industry to identify products that can be granted the GI (Geographical Indication) tag, the minister said 26 Indian spices, including Coorg’s green cardamom, Mizo ginger, and Kanniyakumari cloves, have so far received such tags.
India’s spice exports have jumped from just $230 million in 1987 to about $5 billion. Demand is increasing for spices such as turmeric, ginger, coriander and cumin.
