New possibilities are emerging for expanding country's exports: PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday urged the stakeholders in the trade and commerce sector to put all their efforts to take advantage of the new opportunities created by the changes in the global supply chain in the post-Covid global world.

The Prime Minister, who interacted with Heads of Indian Missions abroad and stakeholders of the trade and commerce sector via video conference in first of its kind initiative, said that considering the size of India's economy and potential, its manufacturing and service industry base, there is tremendous potential for export growth.

The Prime Minister said that along with celebrating the 75th festival of independence, this is an opportunity to build a clear vision and roadmap for future India.

"In this, our export ambitions and all the stakeholders play a major role. The world is shrinking every day due to physical, technological and financial connectivity. In such an environment, new possibilities are being created around the world for the expansion of our exports," he said.

He added that when the country is moving towards the mission of Atmanirbhar Bharat, one of its goals is to increase India's share in exports manifold.

"To achieve this, we have to make sure that we get access to the global supply chain, so that our business can scale up and grow," he said.

He noted that the industry will also have to move towards the best technology, focus on innovation and increase share in research and development.

"While encouraging competition and excellence, we have to prepare global champions in every sector," he said.

Union Commerce Minister and External Affairs Minister were also present during the interaction.

PM Modi said one of the major reasons, India had the highest share in the global economy in the past was its strong trade and exports.

He stressed the importance of strengthening exports in regaining the country's old share in the global economy.

He listed the initiatives of the government to boost MSMEs like relaxations given in compliances under Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan and provision of Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme of Rs 3 lakh crore.

PM Modi noted that the Production Linked Incentive Scheme will not only help in increasing the scale of manufacturing but also increase the level of global quality and efficiency.

"This will develop a new ecosystem of Atmanirbhar Bharat. The country will get new global champions in manufacturing and export," he said.

He elaborated how Production-Linked Incentives helped to strengthen the mobile phone manufacturing sector.

"The mobile phone sector, we are also experiencing its impact. Seven years ago, we used to import mobile phones worth about $ 8 billion. Now, it has come down to $2 billion. Seven years ago, India used to export mobile phones worth only $ 0.3 billion. Now it has increased to more than 3 billion dollars," he said.

The Prime Minister said the governments, both at the Centre and states are focussing to reduce the time and cost of logistics in the country.

"For this, work is going on at a rapid pace in every level to create a multimodal connectivity."

The Prime Minister said continuous efforts are being made by the government to minimize the impact of pandemic.

"It is our best effort to keep the virus infection under control. The work of vaccination is going on at a fast pace in the country today. Every possible step has been taken to solve all the problems of the countrymen and the industry," he said.

He added that industry and business have also innovated during this period by adapting to new challenges.

The industry also helped the country deal with the medical emergency and also played a role in reviving growth. "This is the reason that today along with drugs and pharmaceuticals, our exports have reached a new level in sectors like agriculture. Today we are seeing positive signs not only of recovery in the economy but also about high growth. Therefore, this is a good time to set high targets for exports and achieve them," he said.

He said the government is taking necessary steps to boost exports.

The Prime Minister said the government has taken a major decision for exporters to get a boost of about Rs 88,000 crore in the form of insurance cover.

"Similarly by rationalizing our export incentives our exports would be WTO compliant and will also get a boost," he said.

The Prime Minister stressed on the role of states in achieving the export targets and implementing reforms, attracting investment, ease of doing business and creating last-mile infrastructure.

He said the central government is working closely with the states to minimize the regulatory burden so as to increase export and investment.

PM Modi said healthy competition is being promoted between the states to make export hubs in the states. States are being encouraged to focus on one product in each district.

The Prime Minister said an ambitious target regarding exports can be achieved only through a holistic and detailed action plan. He urged the stakeholders to accelerate existing exports and also work to create markets, new destinations for new products.

At present, almost half of our exports are to only four major destinations.

Similarly, about 60 per cent of the country's exports are related to engineering goods, gems and jewellery, petroleum and chemical products and pharmaceuticals.

The Prime Minister said that with the opening of sectors like mining, coal, defence, railways, the entrepreneurs are also getting new opportunities to increase exports.

The Prime Minister told the ambassadors and officials from the Ministry of External Affairs that in whichever country they are representing India, they understand the needs of that country very well.

He asked them to act as a bridge for commerce and industry here. He said that India Houses present in different countries should also be representative of the manufacturing power of the country.

He requested the Ministry of Commerce to put in place such a system so that there is constant communication between our exporters and our missions.

The Prime Minister said for maximum benefit to the economy from exports, there is a need to build a seamless and high-quality supply chain within the country as well.

"For this, we need to build a new relationship and a new partnership. He requested all exporters to strengthen partnerships with MSMEs, farmers and our fishermen, promote startups and support them.

He emphasised quality and reliability and said, "it is our endeavour to create a natural demand for high value-added products of India in every nook and corner of the world".

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said that while the theme of the event is local goes global, the Indian missions also need to be globally local to help connect producers with the demand in specific countries.

Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said that the global environment is favourable and "we should look at leveraging comparative and competitive advantages with respect to other countries for increasing our exports".

( With inputs from ANI )