‘Scope for participation of states, dists enhanced under country’s new Foreign Trade Policy’

KOLKATA: Under the new Foreign Trade Policy (FTP), the Centre has widened the scope for participation of states and districts which is a positive move, said Sanjeev Nandwani, former Additional Director General of Foreign Trade, Ministry of Commerce and Industry and Zonal Development Commissioner, SEZs, Government of India.

Addressing a seminar organised by the Bharat Chamber of Commerce (BCC) in Kolkata on the new FTP and its impact on the industry, Nandwani also stated that the target of USD 2 trillion in exports needs to be analysed from a different perspective. He stated that the inflation-corrected figure from the current value of USD 770 billion may eventually touch USD 2 trillion but that does not necessarily signify that the trade deficit would come to zero or a trade surplus would take place in the future.

Under the new FTP, the Centre has widened the scope for participation of states and districts which is a positive move, he added.Rakesh Shah, director of a private group of companies that specializes in exports among other products, observed that the allowance of trading in the Indian Rupee with 18 nations is a positive approach towards ‘de-dollarisation’ and would be beneficial in facilitating trade with forex-strapped nations like Sri Lanka.

However, he pointed out that large commercial banks like SBI and HDFC often do not route payments from sanctioned countries like Russia.

Naresh Pachisia, senior vice-president of the BCC, observed that the FTP has raised the consignment cap on e-commerce exports.

He further observed that the principle of ‘One District, One Product’, points to a de-centralised approach of boosting manufacturing and agriculture and a shift away from export enclaves.