India’s Commerce Minister, Piyush Goyal, and Minister of State Anupriya Patel have launched the new Foreign Trade Policy 2023, aiming to increase India’s exports to $2 trillion by 2030, focusing on rupee trade and e-commerce. The policy will promote ease of doing business, incentivize emerging areas, and streamline the SCOMET policy. The government will engage in massive trade outreach globally, and specific targets have been set for merchandise and service exports. The policy also includes an amnesty scheme for one-time settlement of default in export obligations.
India’s Commerce Minister, Piyush Goyal, along with Anupriya Patel, Minister of State Commerce & Industry announced the launch of the new Foreign Trade Policy 2023 on Friday. The policy aims to increase India’s goods and services exports to $2 trillion by 2030, with a special focus on promoting trade in rupees. The policy will come into effect from April 1, 2023, and will be updated as and when required, with no end date.
The new policy will promote ease of doing business and encourage emerging areas such as e-commerce and export hubs. It will focus on export promotion through collaboration with exporters, states, districts, and Indian Missions. Additionally, the policy will shift from incentives to remission and streamline the SCOMET policy, which covers special Chemicals, Organisms, Materials, Equipment, and Technologies. “The government will engage in massive trade outreach globally in terms of sectors and nations in the coming months to push exports.”, said Piyush Goyal.
Under the new policy, Faridabad, Moradabad, Mirzapur, and Varanasi have been declared towns of export excellence for apparel, Handicrafts, Handmade Carpets and Dari, and handloom and handicraft categories, respectively. The government also reiterated sector-specific targets to achieve the goal of $1 trillion in merchandise exports and $1 trillion in services exports by 2030.
Furthermore, the policy will encourage e-commerce exports, expected to grow to $200-300 billion by 2023. The dairy sector has been exempted from maintaining the average export obligation. The value limit for exports through courier services has been increased to Rs 10 lakh from Rs 5 lakh per consignment. A special advance authorization scheme has been extended to apparel and clothing. The policy will also create designated zones with warehousing facilities to help e-commerce aggregators for easy stocking, customs clearance, and returns processing. In addition, it has introduced an amnesty scheme for one-time settlement of default in export obligations.
Vinod Aggarwal, President of the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) and Managing Director & CEO of Volvo Eicher Commerical Vehicle Limited, welcomed the new Foreign Trade Policy 2023. The policy includes measures such as self-certification of origin, reduction of the threshold for status holders of exporters, enabling rupee payment, and reduced export obligation under the EPCG scheme for electric vehicles. According to Vinod Aggarwal, these measures will substantially benefit the Indian auto industry and propel automobile exports from India.
As Indian vehicle manufacturers increasingly focus on expanding their export footprint, the new policy will achieve this goal. The automobile industry is a significant contributor to the Indian economy, and these policy measures are expected to further boost the industry’s growth. Vinod Aggarwal’s positive response to the policy reflects the industry’s confidence in the government’s efforts to promote exports and make India a hub for electric vehicles.