Foreign Trade Policy 2023 Unveiled: No 5-Year Timeline, Targets $2 Trillion Exports by 2030

The government on Friday introduced the Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) 2023, and unlike the 5-year FTP earlier, the Policy has no end date and instead adopts a long-term focus. The FTP 2023 seeks to boost the country’s exports to $2 trillion by 2030 by shifting from incentives to remission and entitlement-based regime.

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal unveiled the Foreign Trade Policy 2023, which will come into effect from April 1, 2023.

Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) Santosh Sarangi, while briefing media about FTP 2023, said that unlike the practice of announcing 5-year FTP, the latest policy has no end date and will be updated as and when needed.

The DGFT also said India is likely to end this fiscal year with total exports of $760-770 billion as against $676 billion in 2021-22.

Under digitisation, the Foreign Trade Policy 2023 states that export promotion schemes processes have been made completely paperless and online.

Under the settlement in rupee, the Foreign Trade Policy mentions that the international trade settlement in rupee is allowed and provisions for merchanting trade will be introduced under FTP.

Battery electric vehicles and vertical farming equipment are added to green technology products.

Apart from the already existing 39 Towns of Export Excellence (TEEs), the new FTP 2023 identifies four new TEEs — Faridabad, Moradabad, Mirzapur and Varanasi.

The last five-year policy came into force on April 1, 2015. However, it was extended several times in the wake of coronavirus outbreak and subsequent disruptions in economic activities globally. The last extension was given in September 2022 till March 31, 2023.

The FTP benefits have been extended to e-commerce exports, which are estimated to grow to $200-300 billion by 2030. The value limit for exports through courier service is being increased from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 10 lakh per consignment, he said.

The new FTP also seeks to make the Indian rupee a global currency and allow international trade settlement in the domestic currency. The DGFT further said FTP 2023 is dynamic and responsive to the emerging trade scenario. He also said the department of commerce is being restructured to make it “future-ready”.

Abhishek Jain, Tax Partner, KPMG, said, “The launch of the new Foreign Trade Policy 2023 was being watched closely by the industry and the new FTP seems to be largely appreciated by the stakeholders. Continuation of schemes such as advance authorisation, and EPCG with procedural ease, will continue to promote exports from India and foster ease of doing business. Requisite thrust has been provided to emerging sectors including battery vehicles, e-commerce, and merchanting trade.”

He added that another big item has been the launch of the Amnesty Scheme, which should be leveraged by various exporters. Lastly, for sectors/ industries having unresolved expectations/ issues, timely representations should be filed so as to ensure updations in the policy.

(With Agencies)

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