India's spices industry should try to double the sector's exports to $10 billion in the next five years, Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and Textiles, Piyush Goyal said on Saturday. India's spices exports have increased by 115 per cent in volume and 84 per cent in value (USD) between 2014-21, reaching a historic high of $4.2 billion in 2020-21. Addressing an event to mark the 35th anniversary of the Spices Board through virtual mode, the Union Minister said, "We now aspire to meet our ambitious target for spices export of $10 billion not by 2030, but maybe even faster."

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"Can we aspire to reach it in the next five years? I think we can! Let us aspire to double our exports to $10 billion in the next five years by 2027 and then further double our exports by $10 billion in the next five years," Goyal added. At present, India's spices and spices-based products are reaching more than 180 destinations all over the world, he said. Besides, Goyal added that though India is a leader in global spices, the sector is facing challenges too. "When it comes to export of spices in raw form, we do not currently enjoy cost advantage against many countries in Asia and Africa regions, which means we should focus on increasing the export of value-added spices products," he said. "We also face challenges in preparing our production system and manufacturing systems to meet the stringent quality and food safety standards."

State-of-the-art labs are functioning under the Board from eight locations. (Representational Image) | Unsplash

Goyal urged the Spices Board to expand the reach of the quality testing laboratory network to all regions in India. "The Board's quality evaluation laboratory network provides analytical services to exporters and other stakeholders across the major ports of India." At present, state-of-the-art labs are functioning under the Board from eight locations such as Kochi in Kerala, Guntur in Andhra Pradesh, Tuticorin and Chennai in Tamil Nadu, Mumbai in Maharashtra, Kandla in Gujarat, Narela near New Delhi and Kolkata in West Bengal. In addition, the Union Minister appealed to the spices industry to obtain the GI tag for their distinct products. "Twenty-six Indian spices have received the GI tag like Coorg Green Cardamom, Mizo Ginger, Kanniyakumari Cloves etc. We should capture more such possibilities for traditional Indian produce," he said. (IANS/SP)

(Keywords: spice, industry, export, double, India, Piyush Goyal, minister, network, laboratory, stakeholders, GI tag, products, traditional.)