File photo: Union minister Piyush Goyal

Union commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal on Sunday clarified that the much-discussed $500 billion figure mentioned in the India–US interim trade framework reflects intent, not obligation, stressing that India is under no binding requirement to purchase goods of that value from the United States.Speaking to news agency ANI, Goyal said the interim understanding does not mandate India to import fixed quantities or values of American products.

Instead, the estimate is based on India’s expanding commercial needs and areas where the US has strong competitive capacity. “We don’t have to. We intend to procure certain equipment,” he said, underlining that trade decisions will remain driven by price, quality and demand.He also rejected suggestions that India is required to $100 billion worth of US goods annually over the next five years, stating clearly, “There is no such limitation.”

Imports driven by India’s growing commercial needs

Goyal explained that India’s fast-growing economy will naturally require large imports in sectors such as energy, aviation, steel inputs and information and communication technology. He pointed out that trade discussions focus on commercial requirements and do not include defence purchases.Using steel as an example, the minister said India’s steel-making capacity is set to rise sharply from 140 million tonnes to around 300 million tonnes. This expansion will significantly increase demand for coking coal. India’s current coking coal imports for steel are already worth about $17 billion annually, a figure he said could rise to $30–35 billion each year as capacity expands.“If we have one or two more countries supplying that, the more the merrier. We get a better deal. We can negotiate smarter and better,” Goyal said.

Aviation and energy among key sectors

Highlighting civil aviation, Goyal said India already has aircraft orders worth around $50 billion with Boeing, along with additional orders for engines and spare parts. He estimated that total civil aviation-related imports could reach $80–100 billion in the coming years.Energy imports are also expected to grow steadily, with India continuing to source crude oil, LNG and LPG from global markets as demand rises annually.

ICT demand to surge over next five years

Goyal further said emerging sectors such as data centres, artificial intelligence and quantum computing will sharply increase demand for ICT products. India currently imports around $300 billion worth of such products each year, a figure he said could rise to $2 trillion over the next five years.He noted that the US has strong capabilities to support India in these areas with high-quality products at competitive prices. However, he reiterated that intent should not be confused with obligation. “We hope they will offer us very competitive prices. We intend to purchase a good volume of these products out of our $2 trillion imports. But the intent is different,” he said.The clarification comes amid opposition scrutiny over the $500 billion figure mentioned in the joint statement, which said India intends to increase purchases of US energy, aircraft, technology products and coking coal over five years.