Rising exports must be an integral component of India’s development strategy, especially since exports constitute one of the four pillars—the other three being human resources, investments, and governance—upon which the country has traditionally relied on to accelerate its growth since the economic reforms of the 1990s.
India’s merchandise exports have witnessed growth from USD275.9 billion in 2016–17 to USD303.5 billion in 2017–18, to USD331.0 billion in 2018–19. However, the Covid-19 crisis dealt a major blow to the current fiscal. This will alter not just the national but the entire global economic landscape.
Consequently, India’s exports shrank by 60 per cent in April 2020. Further, the pandemic resulted in large-scale disruption in global supply chains and demand, resulting in the cancellation of orders. Amidst this setback, it is imperative for India’s trade and exports to recoup and rediscover the path to recovery and growth.
Keeping in mind the concept of Aatmanirbhar Bharat or self-reliant India, it is time for our country to play a vital role in the present-day dynamic economic landscape. Attaining self-reliance implies becoming globally competitive by removing bottlenecks at various steps in the export process. India’s exports sector holds immense potential to become a viable alternative supplier for some of the major economies.
To realize this potential, it is crucial that India turns to its states and union territories and makes them active participants in the country’s export efforts. This would be achieved by creating an enabling framework, establishing the required institutions, removing bottlenecks, and incentivizing exports. Even in difficult times, when the world has been struggling with Covid-19, Indian states have responded by ramping up the production of essential products through successful national-level cooperation. This is evident from the large-scale production of products such as personal protective equipment (PPE) kits and hydroxychloroquine (HCQ).
In an attempt to realize this new vision, the Export Preparedness Index 2020 evaluates states’ potentials and capacities. The presence of basic facilities, a conducive environment, and the reach of the exports’ footprint are some of the key factors that will be used for their assessment. It is hoped that the detailed insights from this Index will guide all stakeholders towards strengthening the export ecosystem at both the national and sub-national levels.
This will help India increase its share in global trade from the present 1.7% in 2018 to at least 5% in this decade. I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the entire team of NITI Aayog for their unique and laudable effort. I would also like to extend my compliments to the Central ministries, nodal officers from the state departments, and our knowledge partner, Institute for Competitiveness, for their contribution towards preparing the Index.
NITI Aayog in partnership with the Institute of Competitiveness released the Export Preparedness Index (EPI) 2020 today. The first report to examine export preparedness and performance of Indian states, EPI intends to identify challenges and opportunities; enhance the effectiveness of government policies; and encourage a facilitative regulatory framework. Above message of Dr. Rajeev Kumar, Vice Chairman, Niti Aayog appeared in the report.
