Telangana Summit: Goyal Outlines India's Trade Reach
New Delhi, October 30: Piyush Goyal, Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, said that India's free trade agreements now open preferential market access to 76 per cent of the global economy, which is estimated at about 115 trillion dollars.
At the curtain raiser for the Invest Telangana Global Summit in New Delhi, Goyal said India is in talks over eight more bilateral and multilateral trade deals. If concluded, these could bring access to roughly 15 trillion dollars in additional global economic activity.
He explained that India's current trade agreements cover markets whose combined global GDP is around 70 trillion dollars. Older agreements contributed about 10 trillion dollars, while nine new deals concluded in recent years have added 60 trillion dollars in market access.
Goyal acknowledged a difficult global environment. The IMF has forecast world trade growth of only 1.9 per cent. Against this backdrop, India has set an export target of 1 trillion dollars for the current year, implying 15 per cent growth. He said the goal reflects the self-belief of Indian exporters, industry bodies and businesses.
Highlighting national achievements, Goyal said that a decade ago India was seen as one of the 'Fragile Five' economies. It is now the world's fifth-largest economy and its fastest-growing major one. The economy grew 7.7 per cent last year and 7.8 per cent in the first quarter of this financial year. He expressed optimism that growth would exceed 7 per cent in the September quarter.
Congratulating Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy, Goyal said Telangana's aim of reaching a 3 trillion dollar economy by 2047, from roughly 200 billion dollars today, is attainable through shared efforts by the Centre, the state, industry, investors and citizens.
Goyal also referred to the Motupalli Abhaya Shasana, a maritime trade charter issued in 1244 by Kakatiya ruler Ganapati Deva. He noted that stability and policy clarity were valued then, and investors today seek similar continuity and confidence.
He said all sections, including farmers, fishermen, technologists, scientists, startups, women entrepreneurs and public officials, must participate to reach the target. Telangana, he added, can contribute through pharma, aerospace and defence, value-added agriculture, food processing, research and development, innovation and services.
Goyal also underlined the state's potential in global capability centres, design and innovation, artificial intelligence and quantum computing. He called for taking Telangana's GI-tagged goods, including Tandur arhar dal, Chatpata mirchi and Nizamabad turmeric, to global markets. Better traceability, packaging and branding, he said, would help farmers earn premium prices and strengthen agriculture in the state.