India’s new Foreign Trade Policy, 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 government said.  The information was given to the     Members of Parliament during a briefing about the Foreign Trade Policy (FTP).

The Parliamentary Consultative Committee of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry held a meeting on January 11th on the subject ‘New Foreign Trade Policy 2021-26’. The meeting was  chaired by 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 new Foreign Trade Policy 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.

Under the new policy districts will be made the nodal point for setting up export hubs. The concept is an important component of the policy, commerce ministry which is piloting the policy said in a statement

The exercise objective, mobilising each district to achieve its potential as an export hub

The regional authorities of Directorate General of Foreign trade are in touch with state governments and Union territory administrations to take forward this initiative in the districts and enable the implementation of the concept in a phased manner. The exercise is being undertaken with the objective of mobilising each district to achieve its potential as an export hub.

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

Meetings have been held with stakeholders for the formulation of the new FTP.

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. Meetings have been held with stakeholders for the formulation of the new FTP.

A Board of Trade meeting was held in December 2020 where inputs from state governments and other stakeholders were received.

“In today’s meeting, Members of Parliament made valuable suggestions regarding new Foreign Trade Policy 2021-26. Minister of State Puri welcomed various inputs and suggestions of the MPs and informed that these will be considered by the Ministry while preparing the new FTP,” the ministry said.

India’s FTP has conventionally been formulated for five years at a time.

The Foreign Trade Policy 2015-20 came into effect on April 1, 2015 and the same was extended by one year till March 31, 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.