Worrying Numbers in Export Dynamics

●      Export Value (FY 2024): ₹3,700 crore

●      National Ranking (EPI 2024): 24/36

●      Assessment Parameters Used: 70+ indicators

●      Single Commodity Share (Tea): >50%

●      Exports to Bhutan: ~23% of total

Assam’s ranking in the Export Preparedness Index (EPI) 2024 should serve as more than a statistical update; it should act as a warning signal for the State’s economic strategy. Despite years of grand development narratives, Assam continues to remain in the lower half of the national export preparedness ladder, exposing deep structural weaknesses in its production, logistics, and entrepreneurial ecosystems.

While the government frequently highlights welfare schemes, cash incentives, and short-term employment drives, export competitiveness cannot be built on temporary relief measures. Free schemes, cash rewards, and ceremonial job announcements may create political visibility, but they do not create durable industries, globally competitive products, or resilient value chains.

Overdependence Is Not Growth

Assam’s export basket remains dangerously narrow. Tea still dominates, making the State highly vulnerable to climate change, global price volatility, and shifting consumer preferences. A modern export economy demands diversification into food processing, organic agriculture, bamboo-based products, handloom value chains, pharmaceuticals, and technology-enabled services. That diversification has not happened at scale.

An economy that relies on a few commodities cannot claim export readiness. It can only claim survival.

Infrastructure Without Enterprise Is Hollow Development

Roads and bridges alone do not generate exports. Without testing labs, cold chains, cargo logistics, warehousing, quality certification facilities, and plug-and-play industrial zones, even the most motivated entrepreneur cannot compete internationally. Small producers remain dependent on out-of-state labs and intermediaries, increasing costs and killing competitiveness before products even reach ports.

If Assam wants to export more, it must first make it easier to produce and certify more.

Entrepreneurs Need Systems, Not Slogans

Atmanirbhar Assam will not be built by slogans, selfies, or festival-stage announcements. It will be built only when grassroots entrepreneurs, farmers, artisans, food processors, startups, and MSMEs are given real business infrastructure, affordable credit, marketing platforms, and export handholding.

Today, most small entrepreneurs struggle with:

●      Licensing and compliance hurdles

●      Lack of packaging and branding support

●      No direct market access

●      Weak institutional mentorship

In such conditions, announcing incentives without fixing systems is like distributing umbrellas without building roads. It looks helpful, but changes nothing structurally.

Jobs Follow Industries, Not Government Ads

Employment generation cannot be separated from industrial growth. Sustainable jobs are created when:

●      Local enterprises scale

●      Supply chains expand

●      Export demand grows

●      Innovation is rewarded

Government contracts and temporary hiring cannot replace a thriving private sector. Youth migration from Assam continues precisely because economic ecosystems remain shallow and risk-averse.

Time for Policy Correction, Not Political Comfort

Chief Minister HimantaBiswaSarma’s government has shown strong political control and administrative visibility. But economic transformation requires more than command; it requires collaboration with entrepreneurs, decentralised industrial planning, and a long-term export vision.

If Assam continues to treat entrepreneurship as an afterthought while prioritising headline-driven welfare politics, its export ranking will not change, and neither will its economic destiny.

The Road Ahead: From Welfare to Wealth Creation

Assam does not lack resources. It lacks industrial execution. What is urgently needed is:

●      District-level export clusters

●      Sector-specific incubation programmes

●      Processing and value-addition parks

●      Strong logistics integration with Southeast Asian markets

●      Export literacy among rural producers

Only when the farmer, artisan, and startup founder become central to policy not just beneficiaries but producers, can Assam truly move towards economic self-reliance.

Free schemes may win applause.
But only entrepreneurs build economies.
And without empowering them at the grassroots, Atmanirbhar Assam will remain a slogan, not a reality.