Along with the increasing export of goods related to electronics and information technology, India is also increasing its share in the global market in the export of services provided through digital medium. According to data released by the World Trade Organization, India has exported such services worth $257 billion in 2023, which is 17 percent more than in 2022. In this field, India has come to fourth place, leaving behind Germany and China. Now only America, Britain and Ireland are ahead of India. Providing services through digital medium means that skilled operators, skilled programmers and coding experts provide their services for education, gaming, entertainment, artificial intelligence etc. using computer networks. The share of services provided through digital medium in the global services trade has now reached more than 20 percent. This figure was 14 percent in 2005. Exports of goods have fluctuated over the years due to various reasons – geopolitical tensions, violent conflicts, supply chain disruptions, increase in inflation, decline in demand, etc. Although hopes for the best are being expressed this year, apprehensions also remain.
Contrary to this trend, the export of digital services internationally is now at a level of more than 50 percent compared to before the Corona epidemic. There is a lot of competition in this field because many countries are busy in increasing digital capabilities like software, programming, coding etc. Many countries are developing such services in their own countries instead of importing them, even if their quality is inferior. Then there are issues of data security and storage also associated with these services. In such a situation, the significant increase in digital service exports from India indicates that the quality and efficiency of these services is excellent and trust in Indian service providers has also increased regarding security. In the last financial year, between April 2023 and February 2024, the total export of goods and services from India has been more than $ 709 billion and our total import during this period has been more than $ 782 billion. In recent years, the Government of India has made increasing quality production and exports one of its priorities through economic reforms, policy initiatives and incentive programs. Native products are also being promoted in the domestic market. Simple rules are also being implemented to increase foreign investment, technology and partnership. The encouraging results of these efforts are in front of us. New markets are also being achieved due to growth in sectors like digital services.