There is good news for the Services sector as the government is expecting a significant increase in share of services in India's total goods and services exports in the next five years. In the recently announced Foreign Trade Policy (FTP), the government has fixed $ 900 billion exports target for goods and services for the five year period. Though, the government has not distributed this between merchandise and services but has announced Services Exports from India Scheme (SEIS). Under this, the government would provide duty scrips to exporters. The scrip is a kind of certificate which can be used for payment of duties or taxes including customs, services and excise.
The FTP has stated that the increasing surplus from services trade over the previous decade has helped to offset a major part of the merchandise trade deficit, thereby keeping a check on Current Account Deficit. Further to promote quality services, the FTP said the Department of Commerce is working on an ambitious reforms agenda for services.
In 2013-14, India's services exports stood at $ 151.5 billion in 2013-14, while outbound shipments of goods aggregated at $ 314 billion. The sector contributes around 58 per cent to the GDP of the country and 28 per cent to employment. Its contribution to total trade is 25 per cent, around 35 per cent to exports and 20 per cent to imports.