New Delhi: The Minister of Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and Textiles Piyush Goyal on Tuesday said that India is poised to achieve a services export target of $1 trillion by 2030. He was addressing the gathering at the 'Services Export Promotion Council- Global Services Conclave 2021," in New Delhi. The theme of the conclave was 'India Serves: Exploring Potential Growth Sectors Beyond IT/ITes.'
The Minister said that services are a key driver of India's economic growth. This sector provides employment to nearly 2.6 crore people and contributes approximately 40 percent to India's total global exports. He added that services trade surplus was $89 billion in FY2020-21 and it has been the largest FDI recipient (53 percent of FDI inflows 2000-2021).
Emphasizing that the service sector is our competitive advantage, powered by skills, startups and IT solutions, the Minister said that today, Indian services have the twin power of universal acceptance and universal attraction. Lauding India's commitment to enabling 'Work from Home' during the pandemic, Goyal said that while services trade remained depressed in other countries, India's services sector showed immense resilience.
Emphasizing that India had the potential to become the top services exporter in the world, Goyal said that services is boosting India's transition from an Assembly economy to a knowledge-based economy. Global sentiments are changing from 'Why India' to now "Serve the world from India," he said.
Observing that India has transformed from being the 'Back office' to the 'Brain office' of the world, the Minister said that Microsoft, Google etc. call India "A home away from home" as they have the biggest offices outside the US in India.
Goyal said that today, India's Services export largely comprises IT/ITes and stressed that we need to focus on other potential growth sectors. India's IT (Inherent Talent) will help expand the reach of India's service sector far beyond the IT services, he said.
The Minister listed certain crucial sectors which can catapult India's services sector on a high growth trajectory such as higher education. He spoke of the massive potential for Online training courses, language courses, the horizons of which have been further expanded by the new education policy.
Referring to the Audio-visual sector he said that India exported $ 835 mn worth of AV services in 19-20. He also highlighted the huge opportunities that lie in Cloud gaming, Virtual reality, etc.
The Minister assured that the government was actively pursuing market access opportunities (FTAs) and working on a scheme alternative to SEIS.
He said that the government supported the service sector through Aatmanirbhar Bharat Package, Collateral-free Automatic Loans for Businesses, including MSMEs. He said that Rs 56,027 crore was released under various Export Promotion schemes with Rs 10,002 crore released under SEIS.
The Minister said that 12 sectors had been brought under Champion Services Sector Scheme and added that BIS had set up the Services Sector Divisional Council. He spoke of India's initiatives in Skill development, especially in emerging areas like AI, Big Data, Robotics, etc.
The Minister also highlighted the need for assisting States in formulating a comprehensive export strategy with districts as Export Hubs.
Goyal said that the government as a facilitator and enabler helped Indian services to grow & touch lives across the globe. He emphasised that zero government interference has enabled the IT sector to excel. He appreciated the sector for not pursuing incentives but standing on its competitive strength.
He appreciated the efforts of SEPC for organising the conclave for bringing in mojo to aspire to chart the way forward, the Minister said that we must introduce more standards and improve quality. We must move up the value chain in services and pick areas where our strength lies and expand on that, he said.
He suggested the replication of the Bengaluru IT model in other parts of India and the establishment of service industries in India like MRO of ships or aircraft, environment consulting etc. He also said there is a need to expand markets for legal or accounting professionals.
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