India aims $1 trillion in exports with 7-point plan for MSMEs, industrial hubs

The Union Government has set an ambitious export target of $1 trillion for the current financial year, representing a significant scale-up from the $863 billion recorded in FY 2025-26. Announcing the roadmap at the Board of Trade (BoT) meeting at Vanijya Bhawan, Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal stated that achieving this milestone will require merchandise exports to surge by 17% to approximately $530 billion (up from $440–$442 billion) and services exports to grow by 11% to nearly $470 billion (up from $421 billion).

To drive this growth, the Ministry has introduced a structured seven-point action agenda aimed at optimizing industrial infrastructure, reducing compliance costs, and expanding market access for domestic manufacturers.

Infrastructure and Labor Reforms

A core element of the government’s growth strategy relies on state-level participation in national infrastructure programs. Minister Goyal urged State Governments to fully utilize the Rs 33,660 crore BHAVYA Industrial Parks Scheme, which is earmarked for the development of 100 industrial parks and is currently open for its first round of applications.

Beside infrastructure allocation, the Minister emphasized that land and labor remain critical business enablers. States that have not yet notified labor rules under the new labor codes were urged to do so immediately to streamline operations and enhance manufacturing efficiency. For highly labor-intensive, export-oriented sectors such as leather, footwear, and textiles, these synchronized land and labor reforms at the state level are expected to remove long-standing structural and regulatory bottlenecks, directly improving global price competitiveness.

Rs 25,000 Cr Export Mission & Quality Compliance

Recognizing that competing in overseas markets requires robust quality compliance and branding rather than a reliance on domestic demand, the government is placing the Export Promotion Mission (EPM) at the center of MSME-led export growth. Financed with an outlay of over Rs 25,000 crore, the Mission operates through two main pillars:

• NIRYAT PROTSAHAN: Focused on trade finance, including credit, collateral, and factoring.

• NIRYAT DISHA: Focused on market access, international branding, and warehousing.

Key Intervention: The EPM will finance a substantial portion of the expenditures incurred by micro and small enterprises in obtaining international approvals, compliance certifications, and testing costs required by developed markets.

Furthermore, the government has committed full support for establishing testing facilities within government, semi-government, and university laboratories to lower domestic testing expenses. This targeted reduction in certification costs is particularly significant for leather and footwear manufacturers, who face stringent sustainable manufacturing mandates, technical regulations, and quality standards in western markets.

Market Access, Regulatory Protections

The Minister underlined India’s expanding network of Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) as vital entry points for domestic goods. The FTA with Oman became operational on June 1, complementing the active pact with the UAE, while the India-UK FTA is expected to come into force by July 15. The operationalization of these treaties, particularly with the UK, provides an immediate tariff advantage for highly transactional consumer goods sectors like footwear and leather goods, opening up multi-billion-dollar trading zones.

To protect domestic industries from external market distortions, the Minister directed affected sectors to leverage the Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) and its new SETU digital platform. The DGTR will actively counter injuries caused by dumping or predatory pricing from foreign producers through anti-dumping measures and safeguard duties. Concurrently, a focused import substitution drive will encourage the competitive domestic manufacturing of products currently being imported, securing local supply chains.

Time-Bound Regional Drives

To decentralize export capacity, the government announced a time-bound 90-Day Export Drive under the Districts as Export Hubs initiative. Supported by 24 DGFT Regional Authorities and 11 partner agencies, the drive will cover 120 priority districts across 27 States and Union Territories. The initiative will focus on measurable outcomes, including new exporter registrations and export value growth, by converging with the One District One Product (ODOP) initiative, GI products, and existing MSME clusters.

States have been instructed to align their local industrial policies and incentive structures with central programs, convene State Export Promotion Committees immediately, and conduct monthly reviews of district-level trade performance to ensure comprehensive institutional backing.