Huge opportunities to open up when exports touch $2 trn by 2030: Piyush Goyal

NEW DELHI: Commerce and Industry Minister

Piyush Goyal recently said huge opportunities for people and businesses will be opened up when the country’s goodsandservicesexportstouchUSD2trillionby2030.

In the last two years, he said the country’s exports jumpedfromUSD500billiontoUSD767billionin2022-23.

India is a USD 3.5 trillion-economy today and will become at least USD 35 trillion- economy by 2047 and “imagine what opportunities it will open up for all the peopleofIndia,”hesaid.

According to him, by 2030, “we will see USD 2 trillion of exports from India, imagine the opportunities that it will openup”.

KOCHI : Cochin Port continues to be on the growth trajectory by registering record cargo traffic of 35.255 million tonnes in FY23, which is the highest cargo traffic recorded.

In spite of an overall strain in the exim trade through the hinterland, the traffic volume registered a modest growth of 2.04 per cent over the previous fiscal. Mr. Vikas Narwal, Deputy Chairman, said the growth was due to the higher traffic of liquid bulk cargo (21.80milliontonnes)primarilydrivenbycrude,petroleum productsandLNG.

The principal dry bulk cargo (2.33 million tonnes) includes cement, fertilizer and salt whereas alumina, steel coils and defence cargo are the major break bulk commodities handled at the port. Of the total traffic of 35.255 million tonnes, he said 34 per cent was coastal trade andtheremaining66percentwasforeigntrade.

Referring to revenue-wise growth, Narwal said for the first time, the port clocked 6 per cent growth in gross revenue at Rs. 800 crore. The revenue last year was

At a Event, the Minister also said the country’s economy is growing at a faster pace and it is clearly reflectedfromthe7.2percentGDPgrowthin2022-23.

“India is in the mode of stability with a proactive government strengthening every element of the economy in a manner which will hold us in good stead in our pursuit to make India a developed nation by 2047,” he said, adding that“thisistheworkinprogress”.

India’sexportscontractedby12.7percent,thirdmonth in a row, to USD 34.66 billion in April due to the global demand slowdown even as the trade deficit reduced to a 20-month low of USD 15.24 billion, according to the governmentdata.

Rs.761crore.Theportcontinuestogenerate40-45percent operating profit. However, higher fuel cost made a dent on dredging cost, which went up to Rs. 125 crore against Rs.85crorelastyear.

“The total container traffic was 695,230 TEUs during the fiscal compared to 735,577 TEUs during 2021-22. The drop of 5.49 per cent in the container traffic was due to the diversion of coastal containerised cargo to the rail mode owing to lower rail freight compared to higher sea freight. However, this trend will be arrested with the introduction ofnewlinerservices”,hesaid.

Of these, 35,7928 TEUs were exim boxes (51 per cent) and 33,7302 TEUs coastal traffic (49 per cent). Thetransshipmentvolumesstoodat104,666TEUs.

After a hiatus of two years of Covid disruption, the port witnessedasurgeinthecruisebusiness,hosting16foreign cruises and 15 domestic cruises. There is a 29 per cent increase in the average passenger in the domestic cruise calls which is indicative of the growing interest among the massestowardscruisetourism,hesaid.