In an article published in a national daily last week, NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant has viewed that the Indian economy cannot survive without exports. Citing example of China's 13 percent growth in 2016 with the country’s exports contributing more than 37 percent to the economy during the period, he states that exports must be crucial part of the strategy if India wants to achieve double digit growth. This sounds quite reasonable. The old slogan, "export or perish" is still relevant today.

Elaborating his point further, the official adds that while India's exports have been showing a rising trend of late, as reflected by 20 percent exports growth in May 2018 compared to May 2017, there is still ample room for further growth, and the ongoing positive trend is an opportune time to shift gears. He also suggests several measures, including timely GST refunds, promotion of clusters and zones of production, support to the MSME sector, easy border compliance, reduced information barrier, etc. The Centre should pay heed to these aspects.

Meanwhile, the Commerce Minister recently said that India’s merchandise exports are expected to register healthy growth in the coming months and are likely to touch $350 billion by end of the current financial year. He added that at a time when merchandise exports are facing their biggest ever challenge globally, Indian exports are rising owing to a proper strategy. This is true to some extent, but as stated by the NITI chief, efforts must continue so that we can gain on this momentum.

If we look at June export figures, they show modest growth by several labour-intensive sectors such as textiles, jute, leather, agriculture and gems & jewellery. These sectors are still facing liquidity crunch due to tightening lending norms by banks and other lending agencies. Last week, GJEPC raised concern that lower bank credit may pull down exports from the gems & jewellery sector by 10 percent. Several other sectors seem to be facing the same challenge, and so urgent government attention is needed in this direction.

I invite your opinions.