Piyush Goyal Calls for Faster Reforms Amid Global Uncertainty
Commerce Minister calls for reforms, stronger supply chains and export-led growth
- Piyush Goyal addresses ASSOCHAM India Business Reform Summit 2026
- Minister urges industry-government collaboration for faster reforms
- India targets USD 1 trillion exports amid global uncertainty
- Goyal highlights growth in AI, GCCs and data centre ecosystem
GG News Bureau
New Delhi, 19th May: Piyush Goyal, Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, on Tuesday called for deeper collaboration between industry and government to accelerate reforms, strengthen supply chains and enhance India’s global competitiveness amid ongoing geopolitical uncertainties.
Addressing the ASSOCHAM India Business Reform Summit 2026 in New Delhi, Goyal said India should convert global challenges into opportunities for faster reforms and resilient economic growth.
The minister said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has consistently ensured that crises are transformed into opportunities for national progress and expressed confidence that India would emerge stronger despite global instability.
Referring to the West Asia crisis and broader geopolitical tensions, Goyal advised businesses to remain alert to both risks and opportunities without panic and focus on improving productivity, reducing waste and enhancing efficiency.
Highlighting India’s growing services sector, the minister said emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and cyber security would create major economic opportunities.
Goyal said India currently hosts around 1,800 Global Capability Centres (GCCs), generating nearly two million direct jobs and around 10 million indirect jobs, reflecting global trust in Indian talent and workforce capabilities.
He also highlighted the rapid expansion of India’s data centre ecosystem and said investments in cloud services and digital infrastructure would create demand across sectors including real estate, logistics, hospitality, healthcare, education and manufacturing.
The minister informed that cloud services exported from Indian data centres have been granted 100 per cent tax-free status until 2047.
On trade, Goyal said India’s exports touched an all-time high of USD 863 billion last year despite global challenges including tariffs, the Ukraine conflict and West Asia tensions.
He added that India is now targeting exports worth USD 1 trillion and urged exporters to proactively leverage Free Trade Agreements covering 38 countries.
The minister stressed the need to increase exports of value-added products such as automobiles, electronics, consumer goods and agro-processed products instead of exporting raw materials.
Goyal also said the government is examining the possibility of establishing single-point approval systems in industrial parks to improve ease of doing business and reduce procedural hurdles.
Calling for “out-of-the-box” suggestions from industry, the minister said the Commerce Ministry itself is undertaking internal reforms to improve transparency, efficiency and integrated service delivery across its offices and organisations.
He urged industry and government to jointly work towards innovation, localisation, energy efficiency and productivity as part of India’s journey towards becoming a developed nation by 2047.
