India is looking forward with the UAE to set up an ‘India Mart’ in Dubai, in addition to the on-going negotiations for a free trade agreement with the country, Commerce and Industry Minister, Piyush Goyal announces.

Goyal expressed hope that Indian businesses will be able to pick-up affordable warehousing and the UAE can then serve as a base to enable them to spread across Africa, Middle East and other parts of the world. He also said that India was set to reach the annual goods export target of $400 billion in the current fiscal which would entail a 40 per cent increase in exports compared to 2020-21. Services exports in the on-going fiscal are also expected to rise 40 per cent, he said.

“(Today), I will be in Mumbai engaging with exporters and Indian retail industry to examine what are the benefits the UAE FTA can give us. We are also looking at other engagements with the UAE, like a large India Mart in Dubai where huge number of stores can come up to display Indian products,” Goyal said speaking at the annual convention of industry body FICCI.

New Delhi is working on six FTAs at the moment with partners such as Australia, the UK, the EU and Canada, and one or two more may get added in the next few days, Goyal said. “The FTAs will give India a huge leg-up, both in international trade and help improve quality of products also within the country,” the Minister said.