India is looking to clock $350bn worth of services exports in 2022-23, a growth of 40% over the previous fiscal year as key sectors including travel, hospitality, and entertainment set to post swift recovery post pandemic.
The services exports target for FY23, revised upwards from $300 bn to $350 bn, was conveyed to the industry in a meeting called by Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Wednesday.
"Revising the earlier target of $300 billion to $350 billion for Service Exports for FY 23 is in consideration of the fact some sectors that couldn't perform over the last two years due to the pandemic will hopefully bounce back in FY23. Sectors like Travel and Tourism, Hospitality, Education and Entertainment are likely to see sharp recovery," said Abhay Sinha - Deputy Director-General, Service Export Promotion Council.
India’s services exports in the fiscal year 2021-22 touched an all-time high of $250 billion despite the travel & tourism, aviation and hospitality sectors being severely hit by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Sinha added that the focus will also be on sectors including market research, consulting, engineering, and construction and will contribute to the target of $350bn in FY23.
SEPC will come up with a detailed mapping of sectors' achievements for FY23 and sectors that should be given incentives, said Sinha.
Ajay Sahai, DG and CEO, Federation of Indian Export Organizations said that services exports target of US$ 350 Bn is within the reach as India clocked US$ 250 bn last fiscal with almost zero support from Travel and Tourism, Hospitality, and Aviation services .
