India’s Top 500 Value Creators 2023

India’s Top 500 Value Creators 2023 | 17 [ INDIAN ECONOMY UPDATE ] MERCHANDISE EXPORTS REMAIN LAGGARD IN FY23 Slowing global economic recovery, elevated international commodity prices, and geo-political tensions weighed on India’s exports in FY23. India’s merchandise exports grew by 6% and touched US$ 450.4 bn in FY23 – the highest ever annual exports, while merchandise imports grewby 16.5% in the same period, leading to a widening of trade deficit to US$ 263 billion. India’s services exports on the other hand led overall exports growth with an y-o-y increase of 28% to a record value of US$ 325 billion. India’s overall exports touched new heights growing by 14.7% to US$ 775.9 bn. On policy front, Foreign Trade Policy 2023 was announced which seeks to take India’s exports to US$ 2 trillion by 2030. Growth in services exports outpaced growth in merchandise exports Source: Ministry of Commerce KEY HIGHLIGHTS OF FOREIGN TRADE POLICY 2023 (FTP 2023) Process re-engineering& automation: Ongoing schemes such as Advance Authorisation&EPCGunder FTP 2015- 20 will persist, coupled with significant process re-engineeringandtechnology enablement to aid exporters. FTP 2023 formal izes implementat ion procedures in a paperless, online environment, extending previous ‘ease of doing business’ efforts. Reduced fee structures and IT-based schemes will simplify access to export benefits. Duty exemption schemes for export production will transition to implementation through Regional Offices within a rule-based IT system, eliminating the necessity for manual interface. Towns of Export Excellence (TEE): Faridabad, Mirzapur, Moradabad, and Varanasi are now designated as Towns of Export Excellence (TEE), joining the existing 39 towns. These TEEs will enjoy priority access to export promotion funds through the Market Access Initiative scheme and can utilize Common Service Provider (CSP) benefits for export fulfilment under the EPCG Scheme. This inclusion is anticipated to enhance the export prospects of handlooms, handicrafts, and carpets. Promoting export from the districts: The FTP aims at building partnerships with State governments & taking forward the Districts as Export Hubs (DEH) initiative to promote exports at district level & accelerate development of grassroots trade ecosystem. Streaml ining SCOMET pol icy: A robust export control system in India would provide access of dual-use High end goods and technologies to Indian exporters while facilitating exports of controlled items/technologies under SCOMET from India. Facilitating e-commerce exports: Estimates project e-commerce export Dun & Bradstreet