Industry minister sets organic products export target at Rs 20,000 cr in next 3 years

New Delhi: Union commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday said that India has the potential to increase exports of organic products up to Rs 20,000 crore in the next three years. While the minister is hopeful to achieve the export target in the country, at the same time the commerce ministry is making all its efforts to specifically identify market opportunities in six goods and services in over 20 countries to promote India's exports.

"India has the potential to increase exports of organic products up to Rs 20,000 crore in the next three years," Goyal said at an event here while releasing the eighth edition of National Programme for Organic Production (NPOP) with new regulations which are aimed at enhancing clarity and transparency in organic product standards as well as aligning with global standards.

"Global demand for organic products is about Rs 1 lakh crore, which can grow up to Rs 10 lakh crore in the coming years, a unique opportunity India should not miss. Currently, our organic product exports are at Rs 5,000-6,000 crore. In the next three years, we can easily achieve Rs 20,000 crore exports, about 3-3.5 times increase from the current level," Goyal said at an event.

However, a top official in the commerce ministry said that in order to promote the country's export, the commercial wings of Indian Missions of 20 countries have been asked to specifically identify market opportunities in six goods and services. "In a three-day meeting, we discussed several ways to promote exports with the officials from the ministry and commercial wings of Indian Missions and key opportunities in these six sectors, competitors and specific companies therein," the official said.

The meeting was important as the commerce ministry is in the process of formulating a strategy to push exports of six key product categories, including engineering goods and electronics, to 20 focus countries, including the US, Australia, France, China, Russia, the UK, Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Indonesia. These countries, including the US and the European Union nations, account for a major chunk of India's total exports.

After recording double-digit growth in October 2024, India's exports in November contracted 4.85 per cent year-on-year to $32.11 billion.

Cumulatively, during April-November this fiscal year, exports increased by 2.17 per cent to $ 284.31 billion and imports by 8.35 per cent to $486.73 billion.

Services exports reached an all-time high of $ 34.31 billion in October, registering an increase of 22.3 per cent year-on-year.