Government expected to target an export goal of US$ 800 billion for FY23

The government is expected to set an ambitious export target of over US$ 800 billion for goods and services in FY23, which is up by nearly 19.5% from the US$ 670 billion recorded in FY22.

Big Targets

On April 20th, commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal met with exporters to assess the targets of US$ 450-480 billion in merchandise exports and US$ 350 billion in service exports.  The highest merchandise export figure of US$ 330 billion was achieved in FY19, which has already been surpassed by FY22’s figures. If the currently mooted target is set, it will be the highest of all time and a 242% increase from FY19. 

Service Exports

According to the Services Export Promotion Council (SEPC), service exports are likely to touch US$ 350 billion in the current financial year. The council’s Deputy Director-General said that the target had been revised from US$ 300 billion to US$ 350 billion for FY23.

Recently, Mr. Goyal said that the targets for FY22 were revised from US$ 225 billion to US$ 250 billion, which were provisional estimates. The target for FY23 has now been set to an amount that is up by 40% to US$ 350 billion. This was also an amount revised from US$ 300 billion for this year, which is a nearly 15% increase in the estimate.

Points of Concern

A Sakthivel, the president of the Federation of Indian Export Organizations (FIEO) emphasized the issue of rising goods prices, which are providing a challenge to exporters because buyers are now hesitant to increase prices proportionately due to the availability of ample inventory. In light of the growing trade deficit and increase in imports, he added that a committee might be formed to assess the trend in imports and stimulate domestic manufacturing of such products in order to reduce the growing deficits.

FIEA, established by The Ministry of Commerce established, is India’s apex trade promotion organization.