Government Implements Comprehensive Measures to Boost Exports and Strengthen Trade Competitiveness

[YAGAY andSUN]

The Government of India has consistently implemented various comprehensive measures to boost exports and enhance the country's trade competitiveness. These initiatives are aimed at strengthening India's position in the global market, increasing foreign exchange earnings, and promoting sustainable economic growth. These measures cover a range of policy reforms, schemes, infrastructural improvements, and support for exporters across sectors.

Here are the key Government measures designed to boost exports and strengthen India's trade competitiveness:

1. Foreign Trade Policy (FTP)

The Government periodically reviews and updates the Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) to provide a strategic roadmap for enhancing India's exports. The latest FTP (2023) focuses on:

• Ease of Doing Business: Simplification of procedures and reduction in compliance burdens for exporters.
• Targeting New Markets: Identifying and exploring new markets for Indian goods and services, especially in emerging and untapped regions like Africa, Latin America, and East Asia.
• Product Diversification: Encouraging exporters to move beyond traditional products and services to more value-added products, such as technology, pharmaceuticals, and high-quality consumer goods.
• Promotion of Digital Exports: Focusing on the export of digital services and products, which has grown rapidly in the post-pandemic era.

2. Export Promotion Schemes

The Government has launched several export promotion schemes to incentivize exporters, including:

• RoDTEP (Remission of Duties and Taxes on Export Products): Launched to replace the MEIS scheme, RoDTEP aims to refund various duties and taxes that are embedded in the production process of exported products, enhancing the global competitiveness of Indian exporters.
• Export Credit Guarantee Corporation (ECGC): The ECGC offers credit insurance and risk protection to exporters, covering them against payment defaults by foreign buyers. This helps improve exporters' confidence in venturing into new and risky markets.
• Interest Equalization Scheme: This scheme provides interest subvention on pre- and post-shipment export credit, making financing cheaper for exporters and improving the affordability of credit in a highly competitive global environment.
• The Rebate of State and Central Levies and Taxes (RoSCTL) is a Government scheme aimed at providing rebates to exporters in the textile and apparel sector. It reimburses the taxes and duties levied on the production and export of these goods, such as state taxes, central levies, and embedded taxes. The objective is to make Indian exports more competitive by reducing the tax burden on manufacturers, ultimately promoting higher exports of textiles and apparel to global markets.

3. Trade Agreements and FTAs

The Indian Government actively pursues Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) and Bilateral Trade Agreements with countries and regional blocs to facilitate easier market access for Indian products:

• India-ASEAN FTA: By strengthening trade relations with Southeast Asia, the Government seeks to increase market access for Indian exports in sectors like textiles, engineering goods, and agricultural products.

4. Development of Infrastructure and Logistics

Enhancing the logistics and infrastructure framework is crucial for improving trade competitiveness. The Government is focusing on:

• National Logistics Policy: The policy aims to improve the efficiency of the logistics sector, reducing costs for exporters. It addresses challenges like infrastructure bottlenecks, high transportation costs, and long transit times.
• Dedicated Freight Corridors (DFC): Development of Dedicated Freight Corridors and modernization of rail, road, and port infrastructure are crucial steps in improving India's logistical capacity and efficiency, reducing time and costs for exporters.
• Port Modernization and Capacity Expansion: Expanding port capacity and improving port efficiency through projects like the Sagarmala Project will significantly reduce logistics costs and enhance export efficiency. The Government is focusing on modernizing infrastructure at major ports and introducing multimodal transport systems to speed up the movement of goods.

5. Trade Facilitation and Support Programs

• Export Promotion Councils (EPCs): The Government has set up EPCs for various sectors such as textiles, handicrafts, pharmaceuticals, engineering, and agriculture. These councils work to facilitate market access, conduct export promotion activities, and provide support to exporters in navigating regulatory frameworks and international markets.
• India Trade Promotion Organization (ITPO): ITPO organizes international trade fairs, exhibitions, and buyer-seller meets to showcase Indian products in global markets, enabling businesses to connect with potential buyers and expand their global presence.
• Brand Promotion Initiatives: Programs like Make in India, Brand India, and India’s Digital Export Push are focused on enhancing the global perception of Indian products, helping to promote ‘Brand India’ internationally. The Government also encourages manufacturers to focus on product branding, quality improvement, and certification in global markets.

6. Support for MSME Exports

Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) play a crucial role in India's export growth. The Government has rolled out initiatives specifically targeting MSMEs to help them grow and expand their export presence:

• Credit Support: Providing affordable financing options for MSMEs through schemes such as the Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises (CGTMSE).
• Capacity Building and Technology Upgradation: Supporting MSMEs in upgrading technology and adopting new business practices to enhance productivity and competitiveness in the global market.
• Skill Development: Providing training to MSME workers and entrepreneurs to improve their skills in areas like international marketing, digital tools, and product quality enhancement.

7. Promotion of Digital and E-Commerce Exports

As the world becomes more digital, the Indian Government is actively promoting digital exports through various initiatives:

• Digital India Programme: Promoting digital tools and platforms to help businesses access global markets, making it easier for Indian small and medium enterprises to export products and services online.
• E-Commerce Export Policy: This policy seeks to create a comprehensive framework for promoting e-commerce exports. It includes measures like simplifying customs procedures for e-commerce exporters and providing them with easier access to credit and logistics support.

8. Incentives for Exporting Sectors

Certain sectors are provided with specific incentives to boost exports:

• Agricultural Exports: Special focus is placed on increasing the export of agricultural products like fruits, vegetables, spices, tea, and rice through measures like the Agriculture Export Policy (AEP) and support for organic exports.
• Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology: The Government is working on expanding the export potential of India’s pharmaceutical and biotechnology sectors through better quality standards, R&D support, and promotion of India’s strong position in generic medicine manufacturing.
• Textiles and Garments: Initiatives such as the Textile Policy 2020 aim to enhance the competitiveness of the Indian textiles sector, improve manufacturing processes, and encourage the export of high-quality fabrics, garments, and apparel.

Conclusion

India’s Government has implemented a multi-pronged approach to boost exports and enhance trade competitiveness through a combination of policies, financial incentives, infrastructure development, and international trade agreements. The Foreign Trade Policy (FTP), export promotion schemes, and logistical improvements form the backbone of these efforts, while targeted initiatives for sectors like MSMEs, agriculture, pharmaceuticals, and digital exports further support this mission.

Through these strategic measures, India is aiming to achieve a higher share in global trade, improve the export performance of key sectors, and create a robust, competitive environment that supports sustainable economic growth in the long term.

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Annexure - 1

Government Implements Comprehensive Measures to Boost Exports and Strengthen Trade Competitiveness

The Government has taken various proactive measures aimed at enhancing domestic capacities, boosting exports, diversifying supply chains, exploring alternate sources of imports and fostering economic resilience. Several key initiatives and policy measures undertaken by the Government to boost exports, attract investments and to promote ease of doing business from time to time are as follows-

1. The Foreign Trade Policy effective from April 01, 2023 is designed to integrate India more effectively into the global market, improve trade competitiveness, and establish the country as a reliable and trusted trade partner.
2. Establishment of 65 Export Facilitation Centres (EFCs) across the country with an aim to provide requisite mentoring and handholding support to exporters especially MSMEs in exporting their products and services to foreign markets.
3. Assistance being provided through several schemes to promote exports, namely, Trade Infrastructure for Export Scheme (TIES) and Market Access Initiatives (MAI) Scheme.
4. The Rebate of State and Central Levies and Taxes (RoSCTL) Scheme to promote labour- oriented certain items of textiles sector export has been implemented since March 07, 2019.
5. Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products (RoDTEP) scheme has been implemented since January 01, 2021. The benefit of RoDTEP scheme had also been extended to sectors like steel, pharma and chemicals with effect from December 15, 2022 to enhance export competitiveness of these sectors. Currently, 10,642 tariff lines (8-digit ITC(HS) Codes) are covered under this Scheme. The budget allocation for RoDTEP Scheme for the current financial year 2024-25 is Rs. 16,575 crores. The benefits of the RoDTEP scheme have also been extended to exports from Domestic Tariff Area (DTA) units till September 30, 2025.
6. A Common Digital Platform for Certificate of Origin has been launched to facilitate trade and increase Free Trade Agreement (FTA) utilization by exporters.
7. Districts as Export Hubs initiative had been launched by identifying products with export potential in each district, addressing bottlenecks for exporting these products and supporting local exporters/manufacturers to generate employment in the district.
8. The Government has launched the Trade Connect e-Platform as an information and intermediation platform for international trade bringing together Indian Missions Abroad and officials from Department of Commerce and other organisations to provide comprehensive services for both new and existing exporters.
9. Active role of Indian missions abroad towards promoting India’s trade, tourism, technology and investment goals has been enhanced. Regular monitoring of export performance with Commercial Missions abroad, Export Promotion Councils, Commodity Boards/Authorities and Industry Associations is being done and corrective measures are being taken from time to time.
10. With the changing trade scenario, India is moving towards having Preferential/Free Trade Agreements (PTA/FTA) wherein customs tariffs and non-tariff barriers are reduced or eliminated on substantial trade items between the PTA/FTA members. At present, India is a member of 13 FTAs and 9 PTAs apart from the negotiations with the EU, the UK, and Oman.

This information was given by the Minister of State for the Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Shri Jitin Prasada, in a written reply in the Lok Sabha today.