Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal also called for focus on packaging and branding of Indian spices as it would help in further pushing the exports.
Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Saturday appealed to the spice industry to focus on quality of products and double exports to $10 billion in the next five years.
In the last financial year, the country exported spices and spice products worth around USD 5 billion.
He also called for focus on packaging and branding of Indian spices as this would help in boosting exports further.
The minister said that instead of targeting exports of USD 10 billion by 2030, "let us aspire to double our exports to USD 10 billion in the next five years by 2027 and then further double our exports by 2032". Do it”, he said while interacting with the farmers. and exporters at an event organized to mark the foundation day of Spices Board.
Goyal said that though India is the world leader in spices, it is facing some challenges when it comes to exports in raw form.
“We do not currently enjoy a cost advantage against many countries in Asia and Africa, which means we should focus on increasing exports of value-added spice products,” he said.
He said that India is also facing a challenge in tailoring its production and manufacturing system to meet the stringent quality and food safety standards set by countries across the world.
"Therefore, our aim should be to maintain the competitive edge of the Indian spice industry and lay emphasis on meeting stringent quality and food safety standards," the minister said.
He said unless the industry ensures that it maintains high quality, it will lose market share. "We are working to resolve these issues, but we will need your support to maintain the high quality," Goyal said.
“I would like to urge that we all work together as a team to maintain high quality standards so that adulterants… are exposed to harmful synthetic spices,” he said. People indulging in wrong practices are harming India's image and credibility of trade and trade of spices.
He said that credibility can be increased only when true and honest farmers and exporters expose all those who are indulging in bad practices.
"We are keen to set up laboratories anywhere and everywhere across the country in partnership with BIS (Bureau of Indian Standards) or FSSAI (Food Safety and Standards Authority of India)," the minister said.
India exports spices to about 180 destinations and exports have grown from US$ 230 million in 1987 to around US$ 5 billion. The demand for spices like turmeric, ginger, coriander and cumin is increasing.
So far, 26 Indian spices have received GI (Geographical Indication) tags like Green Cardamom from Coorg, Mizo Ginger, and Kanyakumari Clove.
“We should also look at unicorns in the spice sector. We want many young startups to work in this sector and create new jobs especially in remote areas.
Goyal said that he could not physically attend the event in Kochi as he has been deputed to Mumbai to receive Indian people arriving from Ukraine in the first batch on Saturday evening.
"The government is deeply concerned about the safety, security and safe return of all Indian nationals to Ukraine," he said.
During the ceremony, Goyal launched an innovative weather based crop insurance scheme, a joint initiative of Spices Board and Agricultural Insurance Company of India, for the benefit of cardamom farmers.
He also released a postage stamp to commemorate the board's coral jubilee.
“The Spices Export Development and Promotion Scheme assists exporters to adopt hi-tech processing. The Board has enabled access to primary processing and value addition in spices through eight spice parks set up in major production centers across India for the benefit of growers and entrepreneurs, which has helped in better price realization,” he said.
Goyal urged the Board to expand the reach of the quality testing laboratory network to all regions of India and adhere to the highest standards so as to create a name for quality and efficiency of service.
"We should work collectively to make the spice sector the flag bearer of India's exports and let the world recognize Brand India with our delicious spice products," the minister said.