The country has signed nine FTAs, covering 38 prosperous and developed nations, he said, highlighting that nearly two-thirds of global trade is currently open to Indian businesses.
“We need to cash that and that is only possible when new exporters come up, new products start getting exported, new services are offered to the world, when new markets are explored,” he said, addressing the National IP Awards and Conferences in the national capital.
India is currently ranked 38th in the Global Innovation Index, up from 81 in 2015. Patent filings have also surged by nearly 215% in the last decade.
“India is going to be the land which will lead from the front in the future when it comes to coming up with newer technologies, newer ways of doing work, and ideas that will withstand challenges in the future and help in our effort for ease of living,” said Goyal.
The minister said becoming ‘Atmanirbhar’ or self-reliant would open doors to international partnerships.
Goyal said a large number of fresh workers are being hired so that all approvals in the intellectual property (IP) office can be speeded up. “I would like us to be amongst the top five in the world in terms of speed of clearances, make it absolutely transparent,” he added.Addressing the post-budget webinar on ‘Sabka Sath Sabka Vikas: Fulfilling Aspiration of People’, Goyal said the benefits of FTAs would be realised only when businesses and institutions actively utilise them.
In the post-budget webinar 2026 on the new National Institute of Design (NID), Goyal mentioned five-point agenda to strengthen India’s design ecosystem, calling for NID campuses to be developed as regional knowledge hubs for design and innovation, deeper industry and academia collaboration to support MSMEs, artisans, and handloom clusters, and the creation of Brand India design labs to improve citizen experience in sectors such as governance, tourism and healthcare.