India-US ITA to cover energy needs, ensure competitive crude prices: Goyal

Union Minister Piyush Goyal on Saturday said the interim trade agreement reached between the Centre and the US will include India's energy requirements and would help it secure crude oil at more competitive prices.

Speaking to reporters here, the Commerce and Industry Minister said that India and the US have agreed to work towards increasing the annual trade between the two countries to $500 billion by 2030, and the government is working to achieve this target.

He said the proposed $500 billion trade would include India's energy requirements, such as crude oil, LNG and LPG.

"India is the fastest-growing large economy in the world, and its energy demand is rising by around 7 per cent annually. Increasing imports and having more suppliers would help India secure crude oil at more competitive prices," Goyal said.

Last week, India and the US announced that they had reached a framework for an interim trade agreement under which both sides will reduce import duties on a number of goods to boost two-way trade.

While the US will reduce tariffs on Indian goods to 18 per cent from 50 per cent, India will eliminate or cut down import duties on all US industrial goods and a wide range of American food and agricultural products.

The Union minister said that India currently manufactures around 140 million tonnes of steel annually and expects this to double in the coming years.

For this, the country requires coking coal, imports of which are currently worth about Rs 1.50 lakh crore and are likely to rise to Rs three lakh crore, he said.

Goyal said India is dependent on two to three countries for coking coal, and having more suppliers would ensure competitive pricing and greater supply security.

He also said the US has strength in infrastructure, connectivity and distribution-related products, and India wants greater access to these so it can expand into areas such as data centres.

He noted that India's information technology exports currently stand at around $200 billion, or Rs 18 lakh crore, and access to advanced equipment from the US would help the sector grow further, and could raise IT exports to around Rs 45 lakh crore.