Indian government to spend $770mn boosting ‘champion’ service exports

The Indian government has stated it is taking steps to boost its tertiary sector, with service exports set to grow faster than merchandise exports.

According to Suresh Prabhu, Commerce and Industry Minister: “In the last few months, we are seeing exports registering growth, we are targeting to ensure that exports are not only traditional products, now new products are also added to the basket.

He added: “We are focusing on services and have identified 12 services as ‘Champion’ services.”

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The government has committed a fund of Rs5,000 crore (approximately $770mn) to promote these twelve champion services.

These mainly include IT, tourism and hospitality, but will also cover ITeS (IT enabled services), hospitality, medical value travel, transport and logistics, accounting and finance, legal services, communications, construction and related engineering, environmental services, finance and education.

Prabhu has said that each of these sectors has a “focussed and monitored” plan to boost its promotion domestically and globally.

He also stated that in addition to services, the huge potential of the chemical industry should also be recognised as it is expected to double up on its $147bn worth by 2025.