Export must constitute one-third of USD 5-trillion economy: Pranab Mukherjee

Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], Aug 27 (ANI): Former President Pranab Mukherjee on Monday said that exports must constitute one-third of the Indian economy if the country wants to achieve the ambitious USD five-trillion economy goal by 2025.
"Exports must constitute the most important segment of our economy. If we want to achieve USD five-trillion dollars worth economy by 2025, export must constitute at least one-third worth of the economy," he said at an event here.
Mukherjee, also a former Union Finance Minister, said that the ongoing trade war between the US and China can benefit Indian exporters.
"India's situation has some ray of hope because the fight between two giants -- the US and China -- can give our exporters temporary relief," he said.
Mukherjee, however, said the increase in exports from India should come from the inherent strength of the Indian economy, not from external circumstances.
He also said that India had followed the policy of import substitution for a long time, which was later correctly transformed into the policy of export promotion.
"At one point in time, it was a deliberate policy not to promote export but to substitute import. It went for some time after it became redundant and thereafter we corrected it," he said.
He said that it had led to higher exports. (ANI)