Engineering Eport Promotion Council of India on Monday said that India can achieve a higher exports target only if domestic taxes do not get added to the costs of shipments.

Lauding Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal for calling for an aspirational export target of $1 trillion, EEPC India Chairman Mahesh Desai said: "We would only need an enabling environment where domestic taxes are not exported and high costs of transactions in the form of inadequate infrastructure are reduced."

He pointed out that exporters were only partly compensated for the domestic taxes, while they continue to incur high costs of infrastructure.

Desai cited a recent study of the Export-Import Bank of India that stated that immediate refunds of the GST can itself add to exports by 7 percentage points and overall GDP by two percentage points.

Likewise, the same EXIM Bank study underscored the need for reduction of costs and streamlining of procedures at the ports, along with quicker cargo clearances by the customs authorities.

Desai said in a highly competitive international markets, quality and cost competitiveness would be an important differentiators.

In addition, he called for grater government support, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic.