West Asia conflict: Govt forms panel for supply chain resilience

The committee, comprising officials from the FM, MEA, shipping ministry and oil ministry, is expected to ensure coordination among departments and engage with export promotion councils

The Ministry of Commerce and Industry on Tuesday operationalised an inter-ministerial group for “supply chain resilience” to monitor the escalating conflict in West Asia, assess sector-wise export and “critical import” vulnerabilities, and recommend mitigation measures where required.

 

The committee — comprising officials from the finance ministry, external affairs ministry, shipping ministry, and oil ministry — is expected to ensure coordination among departments and engage with export promotion councils. Additionally, an internal coordination mechanism has been established within the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) to enable real-time tracking of challenges due to the ongoing crisis.

 

“In pursuance of the decision made on March 2, 2026, under the chairmanship of special secretary, department of commerce, and DG, DGFT to assess the impact of ongoing geopolitical developments on India’s exports — particularly supply chain disruptions — an inter-ministerial group for supply chain resilience has been constituted under the department of commerce,” according to a commerce and industry ministry notification.

 

 

The committee was set up after exporters, during a meeting with senior government officials on Monday, warned of a looming crisis as cargo bound for West Asia piled up at domestic ports, alongside growing logistics-related challenges.

 

Meanwhile, addressing a post-Budget webinar, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said that the inter-ministerial group is closely monitoring developments in West Asia to assess any vulnerabilities in shipping, logistics, exports, as well as critical imports.

 

“All of you are welcome to take the benefit of this facility in person or through virtual mode, and continue to guide us or share with us appropriate measures that you think are appropriate… We had the first meeting of the inter-ministerial group at 5 pm today (Tuesday). Several suggestions have come out of different ministries, different export promotion councils,” he said, adding, “We the government will continue to look at measures to ensure minimal impact from the West Asia crisis.”

 

“The Modi government's readiness to facilitate trade operations was reiterated through measures such as: procedural flexibility in export-related authorisations, coordination with Customs and Port authorities to ensure smooth clearance, engagement with financial and insurance institutions to safeguard exporter interests,” Goyal said in a post on X.