New Foreign Trade Policy 2021-2026 to be rolled out from April, says Govt

Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry on Tuesday said that India''s new Foreign Trade Policy 2021-2026, under formulation, will come into effect from April 1, 2021, for five years and will strive to make the country a leader in international trade.

The Parliamentary Consultative Committee of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry held a meeting on the subject ''New Foreign Trade Policy 2021-26'', the commerce ministry said in a statement.

It was chaired by the Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Hardeep Singh Puri, and attended by Members of Parliament (MPs) and senior officers of the ministry.

"It was informed that the District Export Hubs Initiative will form an important component of the new FTP," the commerce ministry said.

The Department of Commerce through the Regional Authorities of Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) has engaged with state/Union Territory governments to take forward this initiative in the districts and enable its implementation in a phased manner, with the objective of mobilizing the potential of each district of the country to achieve its potential as an export hub, the ministry said.

"It was informed that the new FTP will come into effect from 1 April 2021 for a period of five years and will strive to make India a leader in the area of international trade and channelize the synergies gained through merchandise and services exports for growth and employment with a goal to make India a USD 5 Trillion economy," the ministry statement said.

A key driver for India to achieve the USD 5 trillion mark in an expedited time frame would be boosting exports, both merchandise and services, it further added.

This has to be done through systematically addressing domestic and overseas constraints related to the policy, regulatory and operational framework for lowering transaction costs and enhancing the ease of doing business, and creating a low-cost operating environment through efficient logistical and utility infrastructure, the ministry said.

Improvements in the operations of the domestic manufacturing and services sectors in combination with efficient infrastructure support by the government would result in correcting the imbalances within India and feed into the trade policy, it added.

For the formulation of the new Foreign Trade Policy, meetings have been held with stakeholders. In December 2020, a Board of Trade meeting was held where State Governments and other stakeholders' inputs were received, it said.

Further meetings were held with the Chambers of Commerce, Industry Associations, and Export Promotion Councils to provide their inputs, the ministry said.

A Trade Notice, inviting suggestions from various stakeholders was issued and more than 2000 suggestions have been received. All the suggestions will be examined while formulating the new FTP, it said.

Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Hardeep Singh Puri invited all MPs to also give further inputs and suggestions.