The government announced on Friday that the United States was India's largest trading partner for the fiscal year's April-October period, with bilateral merchandise trade of USD 67.41 billion. In a written reply to the Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Anupriya Patel stated that the US has been India's largest trading partner in terms of merchandise trade since 2018-19, with the exception of 2020-21, when trade with America decreased marginally due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
"With bilateral merchandise trade of USD 67.41 billion, accounting for 11.98% of India's total merchandise trade in the current fiscal year 2021-22 (April-October), the US has once again become India's top trading partner," she said.
India's bilateral trade with Australia climbed to USD 13.88 billion in 2021, up from USD 7.48 billion in the previous year. Similarly, for the same year, bilateral trade with the UAE increased to USD 49.06 billion in 2021, up from USD 29.48 billion in 2020.
Patel stated in a separate response that the share of goods and services exported in GDP climbed to 18.7% in 2020-21, up from 18.4% in 2019-20, and 21.7 percent in 2021-22 (April-September), up from 19.4% in 2020-21. (April-September).
Patel responded affirmatively when asked if the ministry had drafted a plan to build a 5-star hotel at Pragati Maidan. She stated that the construction has not yet begun.
In response to a query about exporters' refunds, she said that as of November 25, 97.3 percent of all Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS) requests for the 2020-21 fiscal year had been awarded tariff credit scrips, while the remaining 2.7 percent were in various stages of approval.