India asks missions in 20 nations to boost market opportunities, export

The commerce ministry has asked the commercial wings of Indian Missions of 20 countries to specifically identify market opportunities in six goods and services to promote India's exports, an official said on Thursday.

Ways to increase the exports were discussed during a three-day meet, concluded on January 8, between senior officials from the ministry and commercial wings of Indian Missions.

The official said the missions were asked to market opportunities in these six sectors, competitors and specific companies.

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 US$ 32.11 billion.

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

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