We will do we can do Goyal on USD 1-trillion exports target this fiscal

New Delhi, Oct 29 (PTI) Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday expressed confidence that India will achieve its USD 1 trillion exports target this fiscal year despite global uncertainties, saying, "We will do, we can do."

     He also said that the nine free trade agreements (FTAs) finalised by India over the past five years would provide preferential market access for domestic goods to economies with a combined GDP of USD 60 trillion.

     The minister said that global trade at present is facing a significant headwind due to the West Asia crisis and the Russia-Ukraine war.

     "There is tremendous volatility, uncertainty and huge challenges confront all of us and across the world. It is in these testing times that India shines out," he said at the curtain raiser of Invest Telangana Global Summit here.

     In 2025-26, India's goods and services touched an all-time high of USD 863 billion and "this year, we have set a target ...we took the unholy risk, very very challenging target of attempting to go to USD one trillion of exports," Goyal said.

     "...aiming for a 15 per cent growth in exports this year... We will do, we can do," he said.

     He suggested the state to focus on a few ideas to push exports and economic growth.

     The minister suggested Telangana to identify 50 top export products and services where the state can get preferential market access through the FTAs.

     Other suggestions include taking geographical indication (GI) products to global markets, moving up the pharmaceutical value chain, focusing on emerging sectors such as space, defence, electronics, artificial intelligence, quantum computing and machine learning, and accelerating efforts to improve the ease of doing business.

     Cumulatively, during April-September this fiscal, merchandise exports jumped 18.51 per cent to USD 259.89 billion, and imports climbed 16.31 per cent to USD 437.53 billion. The deficit during the first half of 2026-27 widened to USD 177.64 billion as compared to USD 156.88 billion during April-September 2025-26.

     The estimated value of service exports during April-September 2026-27 was USD 216.31 billion as compared to USD 199.02 billion in April-September 2025-26.

     The country's combined goods and services exports are estimated at USD 476.2 billion in the first half of the current fiscal.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)