India’s trade story is ready for its next flight. Our ambition must always rise beyond what we have achieved so far.
“नहीं तेरा नशेमन कसर-ए-सुल्तानी के गुम्बद पर
तू शाहीन है, बसेरा कर पहाड़ों की चट्टानों पर।”
𝐖𝐞 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬. 𝐋𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐜𝐨𝐧, 𝐰𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐞𝐫, 𝐩𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐮𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞.
It was a privilege to participate in the Board of Trade meeting today at Vanijya Bhawan, chaired by Hon’ble Commerce and Industry Minister Shri Piyush Goyal. The Minister emphasised the importance of a strong Centre–State partnership to expand India’s exports, create jobs and enhance global competitiveness. He cited the example of Vietnam, where exports exceed the country’s GDP, while India remains at around 12 percent in merchandise exports. This reinforces the need for India to strengthen its competitiveness, benchmark its performance with the world’s most successful export destinations, and diversify across products, markets and value chains.
𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐚’𝐬 𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐬 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐭𝐡 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐲, 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐲 𝐞𝐟𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐥𝐨𝐛𝐚𝐥 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞. 𝐄𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 8.8 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐚’𝐬 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐅𝐘24–25, 𝐮𝐩 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 1.9 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐅𝐘14–15, 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐔𝐒𝐃 38.6 𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐔𝐒𝐃 437.4 𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐨𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐬. 𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲, 𝐝𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐀𝐩𝐫–𝐎𝐜𝐭, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐚’𝐬 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐟𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 10.3 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫’𝐬 𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐜 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞.
A focused push will be extended to landlocked States under the new Export Promotion Mission, enabling them to build export-ready infrastructure and capabilities. For India to truly unlock its export potential, State Governments must play a far more proactive and energetic role. The entire responsibility cannot rest solely on the Centre. States must accelerate industrial policies, strengthen logistics, simplify compliance systems and actively attract private investment. A strong State-level ecosystem is essential to deepen India’s participation in global trade.
To achieve 2 trillion dollars in exports by 2030, India must integrate deeply with global value chains. The success of mobile manufacturing demonstrates how policy alignment, industry collaboration and GVC integration can transform a sector. This model needs to be extended to other high-potential categories to drive broad-based export growth. Alongside this, India must build globally competitive Indian brands across industries - brands that not only manufacture in India but lead global markets through design, innovation and reliability.
𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐞𝐱𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐘𝐢𝐰𝐮 𝐦𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐥, 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰𝐬 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐭𝐬, 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐬, 𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐟𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐬𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦. 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐝𝐚𝐩𝐭 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐡𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐮𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬.
Equally important is empowering our MSMEs, who will be fundamental to any high-intensity manufacturing, trading and logistics cluster (Yiwu). These enterprises need a platform that offers large-scale manufacturing linkages, technology transfer, competitive and globally benchmarked capital, strong market access, and comprehensive support to integrate into GVCs. Global experience shows that when MSMEs are embedded in dense, coordinated clusters with unified logistics, customs, warehousing and finance, exports accelerate dramatically.
Significant progress has already been made through platforms such as the Trade Connect ePlatform, which is providing exporters with digital access to market intelligence, compliance support and integrated government services. India’s expanding FTA network is further enhancing our position in the global trade landscape.
India has the talent, enterprise and policy momentum. With the Centre, States and industry working collaboratively as equal partners, India can build a future where its enterprises become trusted and competitive contributors to global value systems. ICEA remains committed to supporting this journey and helping position India as a leading electronics manufacturing and export powerhouse, aligned with the vision of Viksit Bharat 2047.
@PiyushGoyal @CimGOI @DoC_GoI @JitinPrasada