Coimbatore (Tamil Nadu) [India], April 10 (ANI): India is in talks with twenty more countries to open market access and expand trade opportunities, says Union Commerce & Industry Minister Piyush Goyal.

While addressing the business leaders in Coimbatore on Friday, the minister noted that these negotiations aimed to build on the nine free trade agreements signed over the last three-and-a half years, which provided preferential access to 38 developed nations.

'We are in discussions with, apart from these 38 countries, at least 20 more countries to open market access in all of them,' Goyal said. He mentioned the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), the Eurasian region, and Israel as participants in these ongoing trade talks.

Goyal explained that the government focused on agreements with developed countries where per capita income remained high, and industries did not directly compete with Indian businesses. He stated that two-thirds of global trade now stood open for Indian entrepreneurs to seek preferential market access.

'Very often industry comes and complains to me that we are getting zero-duty imports from countries where we don't get access for our goods, but they are dumping goods in our country at zero-duty. But we have not done a single FTA with any of our competitors. All our FTAs are with developed countries where per capita income is high, where they are not competing with us in our industries, and where we can get market access to expand our businesses. Today two-third of global trade is open for all of you to get preferential market access to expand your businesses,' Goyal said.

The minister described Coimbatore as the power centre of South India's entrepreneurial strength and credited the region's MSMEs for providing essential policy guidance to the Centre.

'I urge all of you to please take up these opportunities, expand your businesses, and grow to become international players. We have even expanded the MSME definition. We don't include export turnover in the MSME definition so that it encourages all of you to grow bigger, faster, and better, and I am quite confident that if we all take up the challenge of using these FTAs to expand our businesses, the sky is the limit,' Goyal stated.

The Union minister also highlighted the integration of the national power grid as a foundational achievement for industrial growth. He recalled the challenges of 2014 when he took charge amidst massive power outages in Northern India. He noted that the government subsequently invested approximately Rs 2 lakh crore to create a single national grid that ensured 24-hour power availability and uniform pricing across the country.

'The national grid gives reliability and resilience that the data centre really requires. Because we have a national grid, a state like Tamil Nadu, which produces a lot of renewable energy, can today feed that energy to the grid,' Goyal said.

Addressing the digital landscape, the minister pointed to the rapid 5G rollout and low data costs as major advantages for Indian businesses. He stated that India possessed a billion internet users and became the 'second-largest user of ChatGPT globally'.

A combination of decisive leadership and a talented young workforce positioned India to reach its goal of becoming Viksit Bharat by 2047. (ANI)