India’s government says its existing trade agreements provide preferential access to economies with $70 trillion in combined gross domestic product, and pending pacts could extend that access to economies with another $15 trillion in GDP.
The figures measure the combined output of economies covered by the agreements, not projected Indian export revenue. India’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry said in an Oct. 29 release that eight bilateral or multilateral agreements under negotiation could raise the total market coverage to $85 trillion.
The ministry assigns $10 trillion of the existing coverage to agreements finalized more than a decade ago. Nine more recently finalized agreements covering 38 developed countries account for another $60 trillion, it said. The $60 trillion estimate also featured in EconoTimes’ earlier coverage of India’s export target.
At the Festival of Ideas on Oct. 30, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal urged exporters to improve product quality, packaging and branding, the Press Trust of India (PTI) reported. PTI said Goyal gave a range of seven to eight agreements under negotiation, while the ministry’s release counts eight.
“We have to go global; we have to get out of the cosy comfort of the huge domestic market,” Goyal said, according to PTI.
Goyal also cited a 2.5-metric-tonne shipment of geographical indication (GI)-tagged Tandur red gram from Hyderabad to Australia under the India-Australia trade agreement. He said such exports could create opportunities for farmers and smaller producers.
The ministry described the prospective $85 trillion in coverage as about 76% of global GDP, which it put at $115 trillion. Those figures imply about 74% when calculated; the release does not explain the difference or specify the GDP reference year.
