NEW DELHI, March 31 (PTI): India’s new foreign trade policy is pragmatic and positive, and has set a stage for exporters to increase the country’s share in global trade, industry bodies and experts said.
Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal unveiled a ‘dynamic and responsive’ Foreign Trade Policy 2023 on Friday with the objective of raising the country’s outward shipments to USD 2 trillion by 2030, pushing the rupee trade and incentivising e-commerce exports.
Director General of industry chamber CII Chandrajit Banerjee said with many innovative measures, the new FTP will go a long way to help India achieve USD 2 trillion in exports of goods and services and is in line with the many policy announcements to promote exports in the recent past.
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“At a time when the world is looking for resilient global value chains, FTP 2023 will facilitate the regulatory environment, foster globally competitive firms and make exports more inclusive,” he said.
Commenting on the policy, Assocham Secretary General Deepak Sood said India’s new foreign trade policy will set a stage for exporters to immensely increase India’s share in global trade as the 2030 target of USD 2 trillion for exports of goods and services is a confidence-building measure of the dynamic FTP.
“In a fast-changing global market, it goes to the credit of the government to follow a dynamic policy that would allow both the industry and the policy makers to stay nimble. A new thinking is clearly visible in the foreign trade policy that shifts focus from incentives to remissions so that we don’t end up exporting taxes and levies,” he added.
Saket Dalmia, President, PHD Chamber of Commerce & Industry said there is an immense potential to increase India’s share in world exports from the current level of 1.8 per cent in merchandise exports and 4 per cent in service exports.
The new FTP will remove uncertainties and create continuity and stability in India’s trade, he said adding there has been rationalisation of many export schemes which have now been made WTO-compliant.
According to EEPC India Chairman Arun Kumar Garodia, the FTP is quite pragmatic and positive. It will promote exports of both merchandise and services in a big way, help MSMEs become part of the global value chain, and make the Indian rupee go global.
“It is quite encouraging that the government has accepted our suggestion and provided for merchanting trade in the new trade policy. The move opens huge opportunities for the trading community. Now, a person sitting in India can buy in one country and ship to the other country,” Garodia said.
Deviating from the practice of five-year FTP, the new policy is without an end date, and will be updated in accordance with the emerging global environment.
Commenting on the measures announced, Pavan Choudary, Chairman, Medical Technology Association of India (MTaI) said the FTP will work as a catalyst for making India a USD 5 trillion economy.
The revised policy, he said will pave the way for stakeholders’ feedback and will keep evolving with world currents.
“This approach will further enhance the ease of doing business by reducing transaction costs, implementing WTO-compliant policies, single-window interface, standardisation on prior approvals, and infrastructural upgrade of existing ports, warehouses, quality testing, and certification centres,” Choudary added.
The FTP also aims to streamline Special Chemicals, Organisms, Materials, Equipment and Technologies (SCOMET) policy.
It focuses on simplifying policies to facilitate export of dual use high end goods/technology such as UAV/drones, cryogenic tanks, and certain chemicals.
Deepak Bhardwaj, co-founder, IoTechWorld Avigation, India’s first Type Certified (TC) agri-drone manufacturer said with favourable government policies and incentives, the drone sector may emerge as the flag bearer of the Indian export sector much like India’s IT sector.
“In this quest, the emphasis on simplifying policies for promoting export of modern technologies like UAV/ drones under the new foreign trade policy is indeed a welcome step.
“This is a very encouraging and positive step by Government of India to promote Make in India products with the vision of establishing India as a drone hub of the world by 2030,” he said.
On the measures for the apparel and clothing sector, Chairman of Confederation of Indian Textile Industry, T Rajkumar said the extension of the Special Advance Authorisation scheme to the sector on a self-declaration basis was a long-awaited facilitation measure and will surely facilitate prompt execution of export orders.
Additionally, the new amnesty scheme offering a one-time settlement of default in export obligation by Advance Authorisation and EPCG authorisation holders for a limited period will prove to be extremely beneficial for the domestic textile and apparel industry, he added.
Kalyan Goswami, Director General, Agro Chem Federation of India (ACFI) said exporters will have a greater incentive to explore opportunities in the non-traditional markets.
The best part of the FTP is that all export incentives are WTO-compliant and will go a long way in boosting exports on a sustained basis, he said.
Rohit Arora, Co-Founder & CEO, Biz2Credit and Biz2X said lack of free trade agreements with major economies in the world is leading to a competitive disadvantage for Indian exporters.
“Also near shoring trend like setting up facilities in Mexico by Chinese companies is going to trump friend shoring strategies and this needs to be addressed by making Indian exporters more competitive. No mention of better and cheaper access to credit for Indian exporters is also a major issue in the competitiveness of the export sector,” he added.
