SETTING AN AMBITIOUS GOAL

On March 31, the day the financial year 2022-23 came to a close, Piyush Goyal, the Union minister for commerce and industry, announced the Foreign Trade Policy (FTP), 2023, for India, that outlined an ambitious plan to clock $2 trillion (Rs 164 lakh crore) in exports by 2030.

- M.G. ARUN

Given that India's overall exports have crossed over $765 billion (Rs 62.7 lakh crore) in FY23, the country would have to clock an average of over 14 per cent annually for the next seven years to reach that figure. Experts say that the projections look optimistic as exports grew only by around 10 per cent in FY23. They point out that though robust exports were a key factor in India's post-Covid recovery-after dipping to $291.8 billion (Rs 24 lakh crore) in 2020-21, merchandise exports rose to a phenomenal $422 billion (Rs 34.7 lakh crore) in 2021-22-that kind of growth was not sustainable in FY23. "In 2022, there was pent-up demand, and that has led to a huge increase in our exports, as was the trend in global trade too. In the second half of 2022, however, we saw a moderation in global trade," says Ajay Sahai, director-general and CEO of the Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO).