India’s goods exports to touch $773 billion by 2030, Standard Chartered says

India’s FTAs with the UAE and Australia, which have recently come into force, are further increasing its competitiveness as a manufacturing and export powerhouse, a report by Standard Chartered has noted.

India’s goods exports to grow at an annual rate of 7.5 percent, outpacing the global average growth of 5 percent, to reach $773 billion by 2030, Standard Chartered said in a report.

India’s newly unveiled Foreign Trade Policy 2023 targets to increase goods and services exports to $2 trillion by 2030. The country's exports jumped to an all-time high of over $770 billion in 2022-23. This included $447 billion of goods exports.

“As the global economy fully reopens and cross-border trade accelerates, South Asia region is at the heart of global trade growth and is perfectly positioned to be an export powerhouse driven by India and its dominance in key sectors like textiles, metals & minerals, Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals,” Gaurav Bhatnagar, Head of Trade and Working Capital, India & South Asia for Standard Chartered has noted.

This growth, as per the report, will ride on the back of exports of goods to Turkey, Vietnam and Indonesia, which are among some of the highest-growing trade areas for the country, while exports of goods to the US, Mainland China and the UAE will be the highest by volume.

India’s FTAs with the UAE and Australia, which have recently come into force, are further increasing its competitiveness as a manufacturing and export powerhouse, the report has noted.

India is expected to grow its exporting sectors by supporting innovation and capacity expansions, as well as building sector ecosystems, the report says.

The theory was supported in a recent Reserve Bank of India article, released on May 22, which had said that India has become a key supplier to the world with its increasing specialisation and competitiveness, helping the country ride the current trend of diversification of supply chains.

The report also adds that India is expected to be the fastest-growing export destination, overtaking South Korea, Germany and Vietnam by 2030.

To channel greater capital into its manufacturing sector, the government has recently allowed up to 100 percent foreign holding under the ‘Make in India’ initiative, in sectors from metals and mining to telecommunications and agriculture.

This liberalisation in India’s key sectors, the report says, is expected to increase the market’s attractiveness as a FDI destination, and draw in the capital required to rapidly transform the key sectors. Capital inflows from Japan, Singapore, the UK and the UAE are expected to increase over the next five years.