New Delhi, February 13 Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Friday expressed hope that India would import aircraft, engines, and spare parts worth approximately $100 billion from the US under the interim trade agreement.
The import of aircraft may help boost tourism and reduce airfares, he said.
According to a joint statement issued by both sides on Saturday on the framework for the first phase of the bilateral trade agreement, India has expressed its intention to purchase $500 billion of US energy products, aircraft and aircraft parts, precious metals, technology products, and coking coal over the next five years.
He also said that India needs coking coal to boost its steel production, and the US is a major supplier of this commodity.
"With the US, we are hopeful to get more aircraft into the country, which would be good for our tourism, which would be good for our mobility, and hopefully bring down the airfares for all of us...It should open up connectivity to remote areas in the country," he said at the ET Now Global Business Summit.
"I can easily see, just looking at the aviation sector, that it could meet imports of approximately $100 billion – Boeing planes, aircraft engines, and spare parts, over the next five years," he said.
The Indian steel sector is targeting to increase production to about 300 million tonnes from the current 140 million tonnes.
This would double the requirement of coking coal, he said.
"We need at least $30 billion of coking coal. Currently, two countries mainly supply coking coal. If there is more competition and if more countries come into play and provide us with our needs, will that not give us better quality and better pricing?" Goyal said.
Further, he said that India's trade agreements with the EU and the US open up a market of nearly $55-60 trillion.
Both the EU and the US have high per capita incomes, he added, "Does anyone in this room think they can compete with India on any product?"
The minister added that India has fully protected the interests of farmers.