The country has set an ambitious target of $120 billion in engineering exports by 2015. Engineering exports include heavy engineering goods, transport equipment, capital goods, other machinery/equipment and light engineering products such as castings, forgings and fasteners.
India's Minister for Commerce and Industry Anand Sharma has stated, "Our engineering exports have already reached $40 billion and are likely to touch $50 billion by the end of the current fiscal year ending March 31. We have remained aware of the fact that we need to align government policies with the ambitious target of tripling India's engineering exports to $120 billion by 2015."
The minister also said that within the manufacturing sector, special focus should be paid to building up green technologies. India is now the fifth largest wind energy producer in the world, and eighth in terms of investments made in clean energy technologies.
According to the Engineering Export Promotion Council (EPCH, www.eepcindia.org), out of India's total engineering exports worth $32.5 billion in fiscal year 2009-10, the United States and European Union accounted for about 65 percent of the shipments. During April-December, 2010, the exports leaped by about 50 percent to $37 billion, compared to the corresponding period of the previous fiscal year.
Uday Lal Pai, udaylalpai@gmail.com, is a freelance journalist based in India.
Engineering Export Promotion Council
www.eepcindia.org
