India needs to develop more zones like the GIFT City to promote manufacturing, which will speed up the country’s move towards the $1 trillion goods exports target, shares PwC India Chairperson Sanjeev Krishan. He informed that India’s target of reaching $1 trillion goods exports can be achieved one year in advance in 2029. The report “VIKSIT” released by PwC India offers a six pillar guide for achieving the target.
We need to develop an outsized focus on manufacturing in a setup very similar to what has been provided for financial services in Gift City. It will encourage to produce more, generate more employment opportunities and an entire ecosystem, shares Krishan. These manufacturing zones should involve the private sector and should have the complete logistics ecosystem to lower the cost and improve productivity. Only 1.36% of India’s registered micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) are exporting, revealing a gap between export growth and MSME internationalisation, he said, making a case for including them in the exports push. “Challenges such as the business environment, export procedures, finance access and market information hinder MSME exports and must be addressed to unlock India’s path to achieving $1 trillion in merchandise exports,” he added.