Piyush Goyal meets officials, industry representatives to discuss ways to boost manufacturing

Union Ministers Piyush Goyal and Sarbananda Sonowal will co-chair a meeting to address concerns of exporters, importers and port authorities in Delhi on May 22, 2026. | Photo credit: ANI

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Friday (May 22, 2026) at an inter-ministerial meeting with industry associations to discuss ways to boost the country’s manufacturing.

He said the government is committed to working closely with industry to expand production capacity, raise quality standards and strengthen competitiveness.

He said in a social media post that he held a comprehensive meeting with officials from key ministries and leading industry associations to formulate a strategy to boost domestic manufacturing.

The meeting comes at a time when the government is working with industry to identify about 100 products — including those from the automotive, chemical, plastics and petrochemicals sectors — that are either not produced or not produced adequately in India, as part of efforts to increase domestic production.

The exercise is aimed at reducing the country’s import bill as the outflow of foreign exchange affects the value of the domestic currency against the US dollar. The Indian rupee closed at 95.73 against the dollar on Friday (May 22, 2026).

The country’s imports stood at ₹775 billion in 2025–26, up from ₹721.2 billion in 2023–24. India mainly imports petroleum, gold, silver, machinery, fertilizers, vegetable oil, chemicals, plastic materials, metals, transport equipment and electronic goods.

The crisis in West Asia has led to an increase in input costs for certain industries such as plastics.

Industrial production growth in India slowed to a five-month low of 4.1% in March due to muted manufacturing growth and near-flat expansion in the power sector amid the crisis in West Asia.

Meanwhile, Mr. Goyal also co-chaired a meeting with Ports, Shipping and Waterways Minister Sarbanand Sonwal on issues related to exporters, importers and port authorities.

“We are committed to ensuring coordinated and time-bound measures to address challenges and create opportunities to enhance the competitiveness of Indian traders globally,” he said in a separate post.

Exporters and importers are facing problems in the West Asia region as the US-Iran war affects the movement of ships through the Strait of Hormuz.

Published – 22 May 2026 22:59 IST