India set to achieve services export goal of $1 trn by 2030: Piyush Goyal

Minister says opening up of domestic legal services will benefit Indian lawyers as they'd have huge opportunities in Europe, Australia and America. But they must be taken on board on this issue

India is poised to achieve an ambitious services export target of $1 trillion by 2030, commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal said on Tuesday.

Speaking at the Services Export Promotion Council-Global Services Conclave 2021, the minister said that the opening up of the domestic legal services sector will benefit Indian lawyers as they would get huge opportunities in countries such as Europe, Australia and America. However, there is a need to get Indian lawyers on board on this issue.

“I personally believe that opening up legal services in India will actually be a net gain for lawyers of India because no lawyer is going to come from America or Europe and practise at Indian rates. But Indian lawyers will get huge opportunities in Europe and Australia, in America, in all of the world actually, with the kind of skills that our lawyers have,” the minister said.

Goyal further said that at a time when services trade remained depressed in other countries due to the disruption caused by covid, India’s services sector showed immense resilience . “Sectors like tourism, hospitality, etc. which suffered due to Covid-19, showing revival signs,” he added.

The services sector is a key driver of India’s economic growth, providing employment to nearly 26 million and contributing about 40 per cent to India’s total global exports. The services trade surplus was $89 billion in FY21.

The minister also assured the industry that the government was actively pursuing market access opportunities and working on a scheme alternative to SEIS (Services Exports from India Scheme).

SEPC Chairman Maneck Davar said that the government should consider something for the services sector, in line with the production-linked incentive scheme.