India should work on raising stake in global merchandise market: Arvind Panagariya

NEW DELHI: India should focus on capturing a larger pie of the USD 18 trillion global merchandise and USD 6 trillion services market, government think tank Niti Aayog Vice Chairman Arvind Panagariya said today.

"I personally feel that our difficulties of world market are more of our internal domestic policy difficulties meaning that today with the open markets our (India's) share of the world merchandise market is barely 1.6 per cent and China is more than 13 per cent," he said here.

Panagariya was replying to a question after delivering the foundation day address at the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA).

Even if the global market remains static, today it is about USD 18 trillion and that is just merchandise. Another USD 6 trillion is services, he added.

"That is a massive market. Even if we get 4 to 5 per cent of that market, we will do much better. Regardless of what happens to the size of that market, our problem is on how to take a bigger piece of that market," Panagariya said.

Questioning the private sector's role in growth of the country's economic capabilities, the noted economist said: "We need our own house in order. why does our private sector not deliver as well as it should? I mean, is there a problem of policy, is there a problem of entrepreneurs kind of thing or what. That is the conversation we need to have."