Piyush Goyal Outlines Seven-Point Action Agenda for States and Industry to Accelerate India's Export Growth
Piyush Goyal yesterday urged State Governments to fully utilise the BHAVYA Industrial Parks Scheme and accord the highest priority to exports, calling for a coordinated national effort to strengthen India's export competitiveness. Addressing the one-day Board of Trade (BoT) meeting today in New Delhi, the Minister outlined a seven-point action agenda for States, Export Promotion Councils (EPCs), industry associations and exporters to accelerate India's export growth.
Piyush Goyal yesterday urged State Governments to fully utilise the BHAVYA Industrial Parks Scheme and accord the highest priority to exports, calling for a coordinated national effort to strengthen India's export competitiveness. Addressing the one-day Board of Trade (BoT) meeting today in New Delhi, the Minister outlined a seven-point action agenda for States, Export Promotion Councils (EPCs), industry associations and exporters to accelerate India's export growth.
The Board of Trade, the apex consultative platform of the Department of Commerce, met under the chairmanship of Shri Piyush Goyal. Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Shri Jitin Prasada, newly inducted members of the Board of Trade, Ministers and representatives from States and Union Territories, Export Promotion Councils, apex industry chambers and non-official members participated in the meeting.
Addressing the gathering, the Minister, as the first point of agenda called upon all stakeholders to make exports a high-priority agenda item. He urged States, line ministries, EPCs and industry associations to establish export committees, hold regular engagements with exporters and conduct monthly review meetings, including through video conferencing where necessary.
As the second point of the action agenda, Shri Goyal urged States to actively participate in the BHAVYA Industrial Parks Scheme, for which the first round is currently open. He also called upon States that have not yet notified labour rules under the labour codes to do so at the earliest, describing land and labour as two critical business enablers requiring urgent attention.
The Minister's third action point focused on strengthening quality infrastructure. He assured States and industry that the Government would provide full support for establishing testing facilities in government, semi-government and university laboratories, which would significantly reduce testing costs and improve the competitiveness of Indian products.
As the fourth point, Shri Goyal highlighted the support available under the Export Promotion Mission (EPM) for exporters, particularly micro and small enterprises. He said the Mission would finance a substantial portion of the expenditure incurred in obtaining international approvals and certifications, including those related to pharmaceuticals, agricultural products, SPS and TBT requirements, testing costs and compliance with regulations in developed markets. He also urged States to align their incentive structures and industrial policies with Central Government initiatives to create economies of scale and promote high-quality, high-productivity manufacturing units.
Under the fifth action point, the Minister encouraged industries affected by unfair trade practices to approach the Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR). He stated that DGTR would support domestic industries facing injury due to dumping or predatory pricing by foreign producers and could provide remedies through anti-dumping measures, safeguard duties and other available trade remedy instruments. He also highlighted DGTR's outreach mechanisms, including Jan Sunwai, for addressing industry concerns.
The sixth action point focused on import substitution. Shri Goyal urged States and industry to identify products that are currently being imported but can be manufactured competitively in India. He said such efforts would not only reduce import dependence and save foreign exchange but also strengthen domestic supply chains and reduce vulnerabilities arising from excessive dependence on foreign suppliers.
As the seventh action point, the Minister urged States and industry associations to actively participate in international exhibitions, trade fairs and business delegations. He called upon States to prepare lists of associations and exporters interested in exploring overseas markets, particularly new exporters and MSMEs. He said the Export Promotion Mission would support eligible enterprises by assisting with overseas exhibitions and international business outreach, enabling them to take advantage of India's expanding network of Free Trade Agreements.
Setting the broader agenda for the meeting, Shri Goyal noted that India had concluded FY 2025-26 with its highest-ever exports of USD 863 billion, registering growth of 4.6 per cent despite tariff realignments, freight disruptions and slowing global demand. Merchandise exports remained resilient at around USD 442 billion, while services exports reached a record level of over USD 421 billion.
Referring to India's record export performance in FY 2025-26, the Minister said that the achievement had come despite significant global challenges, including tariff realignments, freight disruptions and slowing demand. He attributed the strong performance to the resilience of Indian exporters, diversification of markets and the transformative reforms undertaken under the leadership of Honourable Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi.
The Minister announced a time-bound 90-Day Drive under the Districts as Export Hubs initiative covering 120 priority districts across 27 States and Union Territories. Supported by 24 DGFT Regional Authorities and 11 partner agencies, the drive will focus on measurable outcomes, including new exporter registrations and export value growth, while converging with the One District One Product initiative, GI products and MSME clusters.
Highlighting the Government's support architecture for exporters, Shri Goyal placed the Export Promotion Mission, jointly implemented by the Ministries of Commerce, MSME and Finance with an outlay of over ₹25,000 crore, at the centre of MSME-led export growth. Through its two pillars, NIRYAT PROTSAHAN for trade finance and NIRYAT DISHA for market access, and eleven interventions covering credit, collateral, factoring, warehousing, freight, compliance, trade intelligence and Brand India, the Mission addresses the complete exporter journey.
The Board reviewed presentations across key pillars of India's trade and industrial ecosystem. These included India's Free Trade Agreements, which have opened markets accounting for over USD 27 trillion in GDP; DGTR and its new SETU digital platform; the Government e-Marketplace (GeM), where procurement has crossed ₹5 lakh crore with 45 per cent benefiting MSMEs; DPIIT's startup ecosystem comprising more than 2.35 lakh startups and the Fund of Funds 2.0; the BHAVYA Industrial Parks Scheme with an outlay of ₹33,660 crore for development of 100 industrial parks; the Ministry of Textiles' Vision 2030 targeting USD 100 billion in exports; the data-centre ecosystem with nearly ₹7 lakh crore in announced investments; and electronics manufacturing, presented by Apple India Managing Director Mr. Virat Bhatia, highlighting Production Linked Incentive (PLI)-driven mobile phone production of approximately ₹6.25 lakh crore.
The Minister described cross-border e-commerce as the lowest-barrier entry point for first-time exporters and urged States to leverage Dak Ghar Niryat Kendras so that every district emerges as an exporting district. Emphasising that import substitution and export promotion are complementary objectives in the pursuit of an Aatmanirbhar Bharat, he reaffirmed the Government's commitment to strengthening testing and certification infrastructure and highlighted significant opportunities in container manufacturing.
During the meeting, Ministers and representatives from States and Union Territories shared State-specific experiences, best practices and perspectives on export promotion, while reaffirming their support for the Centre's initiatives to strengthen India's external trade. Representatives of Export Promotion Councils, apex chambers and industry associations also shared suggestions for enhancing India's export competitiveness.
The Minister set a target of achieving USD 1 trillion in exports, comprising approximately USD 530 billion in merchandise exports and USD 470 billion in services exports. He described the target as ambitious but achievable through coordinated action by the Centre, States, industry and exporters.
Calling for a stronger Centre-State partnership, Shri Goyal urged States to place exports firmly on their governance agenda, convene State Export Promotion Committees without delay, undertake monthly reviews of district-level export performance, address regulatory, taxation and infrastructure bottlenecks, and align State-level schemes with Central Government programmes to ensure seamless support for MSMEs.
