Piyush Goyal: $400 bn goods export true testimony of capabilities of MSMEs, young entrepreneurs, others
Trade, import and export for MSMEs: Hailing MSMEs contribution in helping India get to an all-time high merchandise exports value of $400 billion in the current financial year, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal on Wednesday said the achievement showcases the capabilities of young entrepreneurs, MSMEs, and others. At a press conference by the Commerce Ministry detailing the efforts towards reaching the record exports, Goyal said the milestone is “a true testimony of the sheer grit, determination, self-confidence and capabilities of our young entrepreneurs, farmers, MSME sector, tiny industries, handlooms, handicrafts sector, dairy sector, etc.”
MSMEs always had a very significant share in exports, added Goyal as India achieved the $400 billion export target nine days ahead of the scheduled deadline of March-end, according to the data tweeted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday morning. The value of goods exported had jumped 37 per cent from $292 billion in FY21.
“India set an ambitious target of $400 Billion of goods exports & achieves this target for the first time ever. I congratulate our farmers, weavers, MSMEs, manufacturers, exporters for this success,” PM Modi had tweeted.
The interest rebate of 5 per cent for MSME exporters who receive loans in the pre-shipment and post-shipment period under the Interest Equalization Scheme (IES) also helped “a large number of MSMEs in increasing their exports,” said Santosh Kumar Sarangi, Joint Secretary, Department of Commerce at the press conference.
The data on MSMEs’ share in $400 billion exports will be later drilled out by the statistical office, Goyal told reporters. “I would not be surprised if in years to come MSMEs will continue to be the mainstay of India’s exports,” he added.
However, the value of MSME products exported in FY21 had registered a year-on-year (YoY) drop of 7.6 per cent amid the Covid pandemic in comparison to the 1.8 per cent decline in FY20, according to the data from the Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics (DGCI&S), Kolkata, shared by Minister of State for Commerce and Industry ministry Anupriya Patel in Rajya Sabha in December last year.
The export of MSME related products in FY19 was worth $158.76 billion which dropped to $155.91 billion in FY20 and further to $143.99 billion in FY21. Nonetheless, the share of MSME exports to India’s total export value continued to hover around 49 per cent – from 48.10 per cent in FY19 to 49.75 per cent in FY20 and 49.35 per cent in FY21.