States must set up dedicated export departments: NITI Aayog

States must set up dedicated export departments and re-look at the composition of exports with focus on labour intensive sectors, NITI Aayog vice chairman Rajiv Kumar said while reiterating that the government’s Atma Nirbhar Bharat package is aimed at pushing exports while continuing with critical imports into the country.

“The aim is to double India’s export in global trade. For this, we need to change the composition of our exports and move towards labour intensive sectors which can generate a lot of jobs,” Kumar said.

Urging states to compete among themselves to improve export competitiveness, Kumar said all states should set up dedicated export departments under an export commissioner to hike exports. Kumar was speaking at the launch of NITI Aayog’s Export Preparedness Index 2020.

As per the index, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan and Odisha have emerged as top five states in export preparedness index, released on Wednesday. The index has ranked states in four categories like the coastal states, landlocked states, Himalayan states and the union territories across different pillars.