Shiprocket, CSC selected to set up e-commerce export hubs around Delhi

Logistics aggregator Shiprocket and air cargo handling company Cargo Service Centre (CSC) have been selected by the government on a pilot basis to set up e-commerce export hubs in the country, a senior official said on Thursday.

The e-commerce export hubs (EECH) will come in and around Delhi airport and begin operations in February next year, Director General of Foreign Trade Santosh Kumar Sarangi told reporters here.

While Shiprocket is headquartered in Gurugram, the CSC is Mumbai-based.

"We have approved two agencies to set up pilot e-commerce export hubs in Delhi," he said.

The hub will have facilities for expedited customs and security clearance in-house. Provision for quality and certifying agencies will also happen within the hub.

It will also have an easy re-import policy, he added. This policy will enable the return of e-commerce consignments and rejects without payment of import duty.

He added that based on the feedback received from these firms on the running of these pilots, the government will come out with detailed guidelines to set up more such hubs across the country.

These guidelines will require policy tweaks or regulatory tweaks in different departments.

"Our expectation is that the successful rollout of the pilot and subsequent scaling up will have a large number of these hubs operating in different parts of the country," Sarangi said.

He added that e-commerce exports have the potential to grow to over $100 billion by 2030 and then further to $200-250 billion in the coming years.

As per estimates, global e-commerce exports are expected to touch $2 trillion in 2030 from $800 billion now. India's exports through this medium are only about $5 billion compared to China's $250 billion annually.

China, which is a leader in e-commerce exports, is also a pioneer in export hubs for e-commerce. China's exports through this route are 6.4 per cent of its total merchandise exports in 2023.

"This (ECEH) will be a key element in furthering our exports from our country and allowing exporters from the hinterland to send a diverse basket of goods. It could be pharma goods, it could be textiles, home textiles, apparel, jewellery, Ayush products, and beauty products. So there is a whole range of things which can go," the DGFT added.

In the Foreign Trade Policy of 2023, the intent and roadmap for setting up e-commerce export hubs were outlined. The applications for setting these hubs for running pilots were called in late August.