New Delhi: To boost exports, India is focusing on 12-13 sectors where the country has a competitive edge, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Thursday.
“We are now focusing our energies on about 12 or 13 sectors, where we believe India has a competitive edge, to be able to export more,” Goyal said at a summit here.
Citing an example of man-made textiles, he said India has always focused on cotton textiles whereas the world has moved on to man-made textiles.
“We have now brought our attention to see how we can have an orderly growth of man-made textiles industry,” the minister said.
Goyal said he told the textiles industry that it has the potential to increase exports to USD 100 billion in the next 10 years from the current level of about USD 37 billion.
“So, we are working in a very focused manner,” he said, adding services sector exports are recording healthy growth rates.
India’s exports dropped by 1.8 per cent to USD 27.36 billion in December 2019, the fifth straight month of contraction, on account of a significant fall in shipments of plastic, gems and jewellery, leather products and chemicals.
A drop in exports along with other factors has been attributed to the slowdown in economic growth which is expected to touch an 11-year low of 5 per cent in 2019-20.