India’s Key-Focused Products for Trillion-Dollar Export by 2030

06 February 2024

Ever wondered what plays an important role in the country’s ambitious goal of achieving trillion-dollar exports of goods and what are the driving forces behind export dominance in the global market? Let’s explore this with the help of India’s ambitious target of trade exports. India, the fastest-growing economy in the world, 3^rd largest in purchasing power parity and 5th largest in nominal GDP, set an ambitious target to achieve $1 trillion in exports by 2030. States have also joined with their vision of a trillion-dollar-state GDP to accelerate the process.

Additionally, the Government has identified six potential sectors: electronics, Engineering goods, textiles, pharmaceuticals, Marine and Agriculture and Toys. These are the core sectors for accelerating India’s export business and providing a platform for a trillion-dollar economy.

Let’s delve into the journey of unlocking the potential of these sectors to explore India’s prosperity and global prominence in export business, and learn how it prepares the plinth for export business.  Here are the statistical data of export commodities that will shape India's export destiny.

India’s Export-Import – Selected Commodities

Export of Electrical machinery and Equipment increased from $6888 Million in 2022 Q3 to $7527 Million in 2023 Q3, which is slightly low from the previous two quarters. On the other hand, the exports of toys and games saw a decline from $182 Million in 2022 Q3 to $178 Million in 2023 Q3 and was lowest in 2023 Q1 with just 90 million. Check the table for more details. 

India's Total Export of Selected Commodities

*****Value USD Million

India’s Total Import of Selected Commodities

India’s import of selected commodities is more than that of its exports, Pharmaceutical products, toys and games are the only sectors where India’s import is less than its exports. For instance, the import of Electrical machinery and equipment was $20924 million in 2023 Q3 whereas the export just remained at $7527 million. For more information, check the import table mentioned below.

Textile - Emerging Sector for Export Business

Textile commodities play a crucial role in sustaining the livelihood of millions of farmers. The trade of textile exports from India to the world has grown continuously from $37.5 B in 2017-18 to $44.4 B in 2021-22, among textile commodities the share of Readymade Garments and Cotton Textiles is the highest and silk products is the lowest. You can observe that there is a fluctuation in the Textile trade business from 2017 to 2023.

Comparing India’s import of textile commodities with her exports, you may find that the export of all top commodities is more than its exports except Silk, Wool and Woolen textile. The import of Silk increased from $251 M (2017-18) to $271 M (2022-23), whereas the import of Wool and Woolen was highest in 2017-18 with $425M and touched the lowest with $200 M in 2020-21. Trade values for the fiscal years 2017-18 through 2022-23 are detailed as follows:

Export-Import of India’s Top Agricultural Products

The export of agricultural commodities helped both the producers and the business to stretch out their presence in global trade to take advantage which, in turn, has incentivized their domestic production. If you look at the export value of agricultural commodities, you will find that the trade value of marine products was more than 57910 Cr in 2021-22, and for Rice (Expect Basmati) was around 45725 Cr and for Sugar 34345 Cr in the same year. Product-wise trade value of the last six years has been mentioned below.

The table below outlines India's imports of the top 10 agricultural commodities from 2017-18 to 2022-23, providing insights into the total trade value in crore Indian Rupees (INR). This data is essential for understanding the trends and dynamics in India's agricultural imports in comparison to its exports. Vegetable oils are the most imported agricultural commodities with more than 1.2 Lakh Cr, continuously growing from 74996 Cr to 128337 Cr. Look at the trend and dynamics during the specified period.

Steps Taken to Achieve the Target

      Export Promotion Council – This scheme provides incentives, tax benefits, and financial support to exporters

     Ease of doing business reform – Several reforms have been implemented to improve the business work culture, for instance, the digitalisation of documents, reducing bureaucracy involvement and many other things.

      PIL Schemes – This provides 4-6% incentive to businesses on their incremental sales.

     Make in India initiative – this aims to promote manufacturing and transform India into a global manufacturing hub.

With an ambitious target of 1 trillion dollars of export in the key commodities, India has widened the scope of exports in both domestic and international markets. However, achieving the target depends upon the suitable business environment, which includes incentivisation, ease of doing business, friendly tax structure, ease in logistic cost and many more things. Working on all these parameters, this trillion-dollar export will be achieved before the deadline.