New Delhi
The commerce ministry is working to release the new five-year foreign trade policy (FTP) before September this year and Districts as Export Hubs scheme would be part of that document, which aims at promoting exports and job creation, an official said.
The directorate general of foreign trade (DGFT), the commerce ministry’s arm which is formulating the policy, will soon send the proposal to the finance ministry for seeking funds for the scheme.
Under the scheme, the aim is to initially focus on 50 districts which have products that are scalable and hold huge export potential, the official said.
The DGFT would follow a challenge route method to select these districts, the official said adding states and districts that want to avail the financial incentives under the scheme should compete for that.
According to a document of the commerce ministry, states need to be engaged actively in the export promotion activities as exports cannot be exponentially increased without their active involvement.
Districts as Export Hubs scheme aims to target export promotion, manufacturing and employment generation at grassroot level.
The current foreign trade policy (2015-20) is in force till September 2022.
In the policy, the government announces support measures for both goods and services exporters.
To push the outbound shipments, India is aggressively negotiating free trade agreements with several countries and regions including Canada, the UK, European Union and Israel. India has implemented a trade pact with the UAE in May and has signed one with Australia.
