The $125-billion pie India refused to bite MUMBAI: Even though the government has decided to stay out of the world's largest trade block RCEP, the 15-nation grouping offers a market potential of USD 125 billion if domestic firms improve competitiveness in 24 identified product categories, as per a World Trade Centre study. Citing domestic concerns, the government walked out of the 16-country Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) in November last year. The 15 RCEP countries together accounted for 57 per cent or USD 105 billion of India's overall trade deficit in FY19, with China itself contributing to USD 54 billion of this. It can be noted that India is among the top 15 exporters of these 24 product categories globally and have strong demand in China, Korea, Australia, Japan, Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. "The domestic industry can benefit from USD 125.6 billion market potential, especially in sectors like metals, textiles and marine products, in 10 of these RCEP countries," says the World Trade Center Mumbai, quoting the latest UN Comtrade data, which is the repository of international trade statistics.