New Delhi, February 8 Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said on Sunday that India will have no problem purchasing goods worth USD 500 billion from the US over the next five years, calling it a very conservative figure, given that India's growing economy will generate a demand of about USD 2 trillion.
Currently, he said, India could source imports worth about USD 300 billion from the US that it currently buys from other countries.
"We are already importing USD 300 billion worth of goods that can be imported from the US. We are importing from all over the world. This will grow to two trillion in the next five years...I told my counterparts that, look, I can assure you that there is demand in India, but you have to be competitive," he told
According to a joint statement issued by both sides, India has expressed its intention to purchase USD 500 billion of US energy products, aircraft and aircraft parts, precious metals, technology products, and coking coal over the next five years.
The commerce minister said that large tech firms have announced large investments in India, and therefore, "I believe we will see 10 gigawatts of data centers" in the country, and for that, India will need equipment, which the US can supply.
Asked whether the USD 500 billion purchase plans from the US include orders India has already placed for Boeing aircraft, he said: "Everything we are talking about is in continuation and includes what we already are purchasing."
Even today, he said, India is importing between USD 45-50 billion from the US, and these are products that India does not produce.
"We will need aircraft. We will need engines for aircraft. We will need spare parts. We already have USD 50 billion worth of orders on Boeing alone for aircraft. We have orders for engines," he added.
In addition to this, the minister said that India requires spare parts.
"So, almost 80-90 billion (dollars) is already on order for the next five years. We will actually need more than that. I read the other day that Tata plans to place some more orders. My sense is that we need at least a 100 billion dollar plus only for the aviation sector, in addition to oil, LNG, LPG, and crude oil," he said.
Further, he said that the country requires cooking coal for the steel industries.
India is already importing about 17-18 billion tonnes of cooking coal.
"When we reach 300 billion, which is a stated target, and expansion is going on at breakneck speed in the steel industry, we will need 30 billion dollars per year for cooking coal alone. And all of these products I am mentioning are already being imported since the Congress time, since the UPA was in power. Nothing new," he said.
The demand for these goods is increasing in the world's fastest-growing large economy, he added.
"There is a growth in demand and consumption of all of these products. In addition, we announced in the budget that we want to promote data centers, we want to promote the AI mission, and we want to promote critical manufacturing and critical minerals processing in India. All of this will require high-quality machinery, ICT products, and Nvidia chips, as well as machinery for AI for quantum computing. Where is all of that going to come from?" he said.
He added that the United States is the most powerful technology provider.
"So, 100 billion (dollars per year) is very conservative. I think it's extremely conservative for a country which wants to become a 30 trillion dollar economy, which India intends to," Goyal added.
