India has asked its missions in 20 countries to step up market intelligence efforts to identify export opportunities and broaden the scope for goods and services exports. The intelligence will focus on tailoring local strategies to promote exports in emerging sectors and pinpointing new sub-sectors for potential growth, government sources told CNBC-TV18.

The Commerce Ministry is hosting a three-day meeting with commercial heads from Indian missions in key nations, including the US, the UK, China, South Korea, Russia, Australia, France, Japan, Indonesia, and Singapore. Government sources suggest these meetings may become regular to align India’s export potential with global import demand effectively. Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal engaged with the participants to explore country- and sector-specific opportunities, while also addressing challenges in trade, technology, investment, and tourism.

The discussions highlighted strategies for logistics optimisation, market access initiatives, WTO-related matters, and the removal of non-tariff barriers. The government is prioritising exports in six key product categories, including engineering goods and electronics.

Last week, Minister Goyal projected India’s exports to surpass $800 billion this fiscal year, marking a 2.8% increase from the $778 billion achieved in the previous year. However, he acknowledged challenges posed by global uncertainties, such as the Red Sea crisis affecting shipping lines and the forex crisis impacting exports to developing and least-developed countries post-COVID-19.