New Foreign Trade Policy likely by end of this month : Commerce Secretary …Focus on MSMEs, Ecomm Zones, AI

Cont’d from Pg. 3

.....Covid-19 pandemic and integrating Nari Shakti (womanpower) into international trade and value chains to encouragewomenintoexport-orientedbusinesses.

The current policy was announced on April 1, 2015 and was extended till March 31, 2023. As part of the new policy, slated to be released by the end of this month, the Government may announce a vision and strategies document for laying the roadmapofgoodsandservicesexportsfromApril1.

Officials said around 10 chapters would be part of the document.

“We are working on ways to facilitate ecommerce exports and discussions are on to setup ecommerce zones on the lines of Software Technology Parks of India,” said one official, adding that detailed strategies to boost ecommerce and build further on Brand India are being contemplated. The ecommerce zones could provide all facilities at one place, including banks, fintech companies, customs clearance and logistics and courier services, along with a separate space for warehousing.

The new trade strategy is aimed at boosting India’s goodsandservicesexportsthatareexpectedtohit$750billion in the ongoing fiscal year, compared with $676 billion in fiscal2022.

CommerceSecretarySunilBarthwalsaidtheMinistryhas lookedatvariousaspectsoftheforeigntradepolicy(FTP)asit isbasicallyacollectionofvariousincentiveschemes.

Officials are also adding the aspect of vision into the policy as the Ministry is targeting to take the goods and services exportsto$2trillionby2030.

India aims deep integration in Global Supply Chains on back Infra & Tech : Special Secretary, Logistics

NEW DELHI : India is aiming to integrate deeply with the global supply chains by focusing on bringing down logistics cost, building holistic infrastructure with planning under Gati Shakti,alongwithuseofR&Dandtechnology.

“Will have to look for ways to integrate better with global value chains. We aim to bring down logistics costs, build resilient supply chains, and attract investment. Gati Shakti is helping plan multi-modal connectivity across India. We have a holistic approach to building infrastructure to bring last-mile connectivity in a multi-modal manner,” Sumita Dawra, Special Secretary, Commerce Ministry said at a ConfederationofIndianIndustries(CII)event.

The Pradhan Mantri Gati Shakti National Master Plan is a Rs 100 lakh crore project aimed at developing holistic infrastructure in India. Integration with global supply chains provides opportunities for growth and employment, she said. COVID-19 saw massive disruptions and realignment of the global supply chains. Dawra said that manufacturing and logistics are not enough to build resilient supply chains; it needsR&D,andtechnologytoo.

To integrate with global supply chains it is important that domesticconnectivityisstrengthened.

“Railways is planning movement of coal connectivity via ports, roads. Localising manufacturing is important to add value in domestic supply chains. Services of skilled labour are neededtoboostsupplychainsandaddvalue,“shesaid.

In order to boost manufacturing and exports the government has announced the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme in 14 sectors. “Production-linked incentive schemes will help bring cutting-edge technology, and scale. From being an importer, India has now become an exporter of mobile phones. We are exporting auto parts to Europe today. Impressive sales have been seen in sectors in which PLI schemeexistslikewhitegoods,“shesaid.

Supply chain disruptions have also impacted the aircraft manufacturing. Salil Gupte, President, Boeing India, said that in critical areas of technology, diversion in supply chains has been witnessed because of disruptions. “Today, a passenger aircraftmanufacturingtakessixtoeightyearsascomparedto 18 months earlier. Risks in supply chains have to be more spread out. Strong engineering and manufacturing partners areneededtoboostsupplychains,”Guptesaidattheevent.