New Delhi, Sep 3 (Representative) Textiles exports should increase three times and cross US$ 100 billion while domestic production needs to rise to US$ 250 billion at the earliest, Union Minister Piyush Goyal said on Friday. Commerce and Industry Minister Goyal told exporters that the government is always open to consider all industry requirements. “We must aim to increase textiles exports three times from the present export value of US$33 billion to US$ 100 billion of textiles exports at the earliest,” he said during an interaction with the textile industry players. The government has set a US$44-billion target for the textile sector in FY22.
Goyal said the Textile Ministry is working closely with the Ministry of Finance to resolve the issue of old dues on incentives for exporters. The contours of the Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme for Textiles and MITRA Parks Scheme are at an advanced stage of approval. The Minister noted that India has been showing signs of robust economic recovery as the GDP in the April-June quarter grew by a phenomenal 20.1 per cent. Also, there has been 90 per cent growth in total FDI inflow in the first three months of FY22 as compared to the same period last year. “The merchandise exports in August 2021 is $ 33 billion, which is up by 45 per cent over 2020-21 and up 27.5 per cent over 2019-20 and merchandise exports for April-August 2021 is $164 billion, up by 67 per cent over 2020-21 and up 23 per cent over 2019-20,” Goyal said.
The Minister said free trade agreements (FTAs) were progressing fast on many fronts and he had been personally interacting with the UK, EU and Australia to expedite FTAs/preferential trade agreement (PTAs). “It will provide new avenues to build a loyal customer base,” he said. Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) Chairman A Sakthivel said Indian apparels currently face duty disadvantages and FTAs will help increase exports from the country. Sakthivel said apparel lines should be included in the early harvest deals being negotiated with the EU and UK. “Compared to zero duty for apparels from Turkey, Bangladesh, Cambodia and Pakistan, Indian apparels face a duty disadvantage of 9.6 per cent in these regions,” he said and added that other FTAs need to be fast tracked as well.