New Delhi, May 3 (IANS): India Tuesday set a target to more than double its merchandise exports to $500 billion in the next three years, banking on the increased demand for Indian engineering, pharma and chemical products in emerging markets.
Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma released a paper that detailed the strategy for doubling exports in three years.
"We have finalised the strategy paper for achieving the target of $500 billion merchandise exports by 2014," Sharma told reporters here.
"The strategy paper hinges on four pillars -- product strategy, market strategy, technologies and research and development and building a branch image," he said.
India's exports surged 37.5 percent to $245.9 billion in 2010-11, substantially surpassing the official target of $200 billion on the back of a nearly 85 percent jump in engineering exports.
Sharma said exports of engineering goods were likely to reach $125 billion by 2014. Engineering exports surged 84.76 percent to $60 billion during the last fiscal.
According to the minister, chemical industry exports would touch $25 billion; drugs, pharma and basic chemicals $44 billion; and electronic exports were targeted to reach $17 billion in fiscal 2013-14.
"Employment intensive sectors have been given a special focus, which includes gems and jewellery for which we have set a target of $70 billion and agri exports for which we have set a target of $22 billion," the minister said after releasing the strategy paper.
According to the strategy paper, India has set a long-term target of doubling its share in global trade by 2020 from the current level of around two percent.
He said market diversification strategy had helped boost India's trade in recent years.
"We will now be focusing on markets in Asia, including Asean, Africa and Latin America and it will be our endeavour, through an active engagement by way of bilateral and regional trade agreements, to open new vistas for market access," he said.
"Apart from this, we will retain our presence and expanding our market share in established developed country markets in Europe and North America and move up the value chain with sophisticated value added products in these markets," he added.