rajasthan: Exports from Rajasthan hit record Rs 72,000 crore in 2021-22 | Jaipur News

JAIPUR: Exports from Rajasthan has increased by 36% in 2021-22 compared to 2020-21. Led by textiles, gem and jewellery, handicrafts, engineering goods, metals and chemicals, exports in 2021-22 reached nearly Rs 72,000 crore compared to Rs 52,700 crore in the previous year.
Government sources said that besides the macro-economic trends, and lower base of 2020-21, the initiatives like niryatak bano by the industries department has contributed to the stellar growth.
Commenting on the growth, Rajiv Dewan, mentor of Association of Garment Exporters Sitapura, said, “The growth of textiles was mainly driven by yarn. The large shipment of yarn caused a shortage in the domestic market leading to costly fabric for domestic garment manufacturers. That increased the prices of garments. While the exports of ready-made garments grew, but a substantial part of it came from higher product prices than increased volumes,” said Dewan. In fact, textile exports grew from the high of Rs 6,750 crore in 2018-19 to Rs 9,251 crore in 2021-22. Similarly, readymade garments had its highest exports growth at Rs 2,078 crore in 2018-19 but it increased to Rs 2,561 crore in 2021-22. The gems and jewellery exports from Rajasthan had its highest shipments in 2018-19 at Rs 5,737.55 crore. In 2021-22, exports stood at Rs 6811.04 crore.

Ashok Maheshwari, JAS convenor, said, “There was a time when the gems and jewellery exporters of Jaipur used to look for buyers abroad, but now international jewellery brands are moving to Jaipur along with foreign buyers. The youths are bringing in innovations into the trade. New technology and modern design are adding heft. Soon, the gems-jewellery export of Rajasthan will cross $1 billion, but the shortage of skilled labour is affecting the sector.” Handicrafts is one sector that has not witnessed a dip even during the pandemic period. While it has grown steadily from 2017-18 onwards, the growth in 2021-22 has been spectacular. From Rs 3,701 crore in 2017-18, the exports have expanded to Rs 7,830 crore in 2021-22.
Ravi Rela, north-western region committee member of Export Promotion Council of Handicraft, said, “If there is full cooperation from the government, we can challenge China in the export market. In China, export marketing is the responsibility of the government, while industrialists focus only on making products according to the international market demand.” In dimension stone, Rajasthan enjoys a special place in the country. While the sector is growing, there is scope for higher pace of expansion. In 2021-22, it had a good growth, going from Rs 4,080 crore in 2020-21, the highest ever, to Rs 4,481 crore.
Rakesh Kumar Gupta, vice-chairman of Centre for Development of Stones, said, “Due to shipping companies’ cartels, the container charges have increased up to 10 times. In Uttar Pradesh, the government has given relief to its exporters offering freight subsidy. We also need a similar assistance from the Rajasthan government to encourage exporters.”