UPSC Express

Foreign Trade Policy 2015-2020 provides a framework for increasing exports of goods and services as well as generation of employment and increasing value addition in the country in keeping with the vision of Make in India, Digital India and Skill India initiatives. The focus of the government is to support both the manufacturing and services sectors, with a special emphasis on improving the ease of doing business’.

Salient features of the FTP 2015-20 are as follows:

• Introduction of two new schemes

• • Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS)- for export of specified goods to specific markets. Five different schemes namely Focus Product Scheme, Market Linked Focus Product Scheme, Focus Market Scheme, Agri-Infrastructure Incentive Scrip and Vishesh Krishi Gram Udyog Yojana were merged into MEIS. There is higher level of rewards under MEIS for export items with high domestic content and value addition.
  • Services Exports from India Scheme (SEIS)- for increasing exports of notified services. It replaced the Served From India Scheme(SFIS). Benefits from both these schemes will be extended to units located in SEZs also.

• To increase exports to 900 bn USD by 2019-20 from 466 bn USD in 2013-14.
• To raise India’s share in world exports from 2% to 3.5%.
• Duty Credit Strips to be freely transferable and usable for payments of custom duty, excise duty and service tax.
• To promote ease of doing business and trade facilitation, FTP seeks to move towards e-filing of documents.
• The “Approved Exporter System” will help manufacturer exporters to self certify their manufactured goods and help in getting fast access to international markets.
• ‘MSME clusters’ have been identified for focused interventions to boost exports.
• To promote domestic capital goods manufacturing industry, Specific Export Obligation under EPCG scheme has been reduced to 75%.

In December 2017, government announced liberal incentives of Rs 8,450 crore in its mid-term review of FTP 2015-20 to promote labour-intensive sectors under MEIS and SEIS schemes. The Foreign Trade Policy 2015-20 has been a positive step to undertake structural changes and push for long term competitiveness, and its implementation must be properly overseen to boost exports and export competitiveness.