India targets $2 trillion exports by 2030–31; Goyal pushes MSME, agri focus under export mission

New Delhi: India is targeting $2 trillion in exports by 2030–31, with a balanced contribution of $1 trillion each from merchandise and services, as the government sharpens its export strategy with a stronger focus on MSMEs, agricultural exports and global competitiveness.

Commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal on Wednesday reviewed the action plan and implementation of the Export Promotion Mission, outlining a structured approach to achieve the target through sector-specific interventions across engineering goods, textiles, electronics, pharmaceuticals, chemicals and services.

The minister emphasised that the export strategy will be driven by clearly defined timelines, measurable outcomes and coordinated efforts across ministries, supported by an IT-enabled monitoring framework for real-time tracking and escalation.

The Export Promotion Mission, a flagship MSME-focused initiative, is being implemented through two sub-schemes — Niryat Protsahan, which focuses on access to trade finance, and Niryat Disha, which aims to improve market access. Ten key components under the mission have already been operationalised, including interest subvention, export factoring, e-commerce export support, collateral support, risk sharing, and assistance for testing, certification, warehousing and logistics.

Goyal directed that the benefits of these schemes must reach exporters at the ground level, particularly first-time exporters and MSMEs, with enhanced outreach through export promotion councils, commodity boards and DGFT regional authorities.

The minister also called for a sharper focus on overseas warehousing, logistics infrastructure and testing and certification systems to improve global competitiveness, especially for MSMEs.

Agricultural exports and small enterprises will remain central to the strategy, with expanded market access initiatives and greater support for field-level organisations promoting exports. Goyal also emphasised the need for a rolling three-year calendar of trade fairs, buyer-seller meets and trade delegations to provide predictability and sustained engagement in global markets.

Highlighting the importance of branding, the minister stressed strengthening “Brand India” as a unified global identity to boost exports across sectors.

He said the $2 trillion export target is achievable through disciplined execution, real-time monitoring and effective inter-departmental coordination.