Union Ministers Piyush Goyal and Sarbananda Sonowal co-chair a meeting to address concerns of exporters, importers and port authorities, in New Delhi on May 22, 2026.
| Photo Credit: ANI
An inter-ministerial meeting was held with industry associations to discuss ways to boost the country’s manufacturing, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Friday (May 22, 2026).
He said that the government is committed to working closely with the industry to expand manufacturing capacities, enhance quality standards and strengthen competitiveness.
A comprehensive meeting with officials from key ministries and leading industry associations was held to strategise on boosting domestic manufacturing, he said in a social media post.
The meeting comes at a time when the government is working with the industry to identify about 100 products — including those from the auto, chemicals, plastics and petrochemicals sectors — that are either not produced or manufactured inadequately in India, as part of efforts to boost domestic production.
The exercise is aimed at reducing the import bill of the country, as outflows of foreign exchange are impacting the value of the domestic currency against the U.S. dollar. The Indian rupee, on Friday (May 22, 2026), closed at 95.73 against the greenback.
The country’s imports stood at ₹775 billion in 2025-26 as against ₹721.2 billion in 2023-24. India mainly imports crude oil, gold, silver, machinery, fertiliser, vegetable oil, chemicals, plastic materials, metals, transport equipment, and electronic goods.
The West Asia crisis has led to an increase in input costs for certain sectors like plastics.
India’s industrial production growth decelerated to a five-month low of 4.1% in March on account of subdued manufacturing growth and almost flat expansion in the power sector amid the West Asia crisis.
Meanwhile, Mr. Goyal also co-chaired a meeting with minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterway Sarbanand Sonwal, on issues related to exporters, importers and port authorities.
“We are committed to ensuring coordinated, time-bound measures to address concerns and create opportunities to make Indian traders more competitive globally,” he said in a separate post.
Exporters and importers are facing issues in the West Asia region as the U.S.-Iran war is impacting the movement of ships across the Strait of Hormuz.
Published – May 22, 2026 10:59 pm IST
