India Targets 20 Key Nations to Accelerate Export Growth

The Indian government has identified 20 key countries, including Australia, Brazil, China, and France, along with six priority sectors in both commodities and services to boost the nation’s exports, as informed in Parliament on Tuesday. Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, Jitin Prasada, stated that a meeting was held last month with officials from the commercial wings of Indian Missions in these nations to enhance trade.

The identified 20 countries of strategic importance include Australia, Brazil, Bangladesh, China, France, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Türkiye, the UAE, the UK, the US, and Vietnam. The discussions during the meeting centered on developing strategies to strengthen multilateral trade partnerships and addressing trade-related operational and logistical challenges.

Prasada mentioned that actionable strategies were proposed to boost India's exports, including the creation of a Data Analytics Portal to identify new market opportunities and an 'E-connect Portal' to provide SMEs with crucial market access information. 

Additionally, Indian Missions were encouraged to support the One District One Product (ODOP) initiative in their respective countries, focusing on enhancing branding, expanding market access, and increasing farmers' earnings through higher exports.

In a separate statement, Prasada reported that, as of December 31, 2024, a total of 1,57,706 entities had been recognized as startups under the Startup India initiative. However, 5,063 startups, recognized by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), have been listed as closed (dissolved/struck-off) as per the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) records as of December 31, last year.