"The export growth is expected to be 17 per cent. The growth, however, may be a bit lower in July due to heavy rains in Mumbai, which affected commercial operations," S N Menon, secretary, union ministry of commerce, said on Wednesday.
He said the government had targeted to double exports to $150 billion by 2009. Speaking at a seminar organised by the Engineering Export Promotion Council, Menon said, "We would like to double exports to $150 billion by 2009 from $80 billion now. Whatever is needed to achieve that will have to be done by the government and the export promotion councils."
He said the overall scenario in the export front was satisfactory with substantial investment proposals coming for the special economic zones.
The government has received applications for 44 new SEZs in different regions of the country, out of which 21 have obtained approval, he said.