Abstract:
India is one of the fastest-growing economies in the world, and a major engine of growth in the post-pandemic global economy. In the last seventy-five years of the independent period, India transformed from a protected inward-looking economy to a liberalized global economy, with exports and imports growing substantially in the recent period. Despite this growth, the share of India's trade is small compared to developing countries, emerging economies, and India's export competitors. International trade must play a much more dominant role in the Amrit Kaal to become a developed nation and achieve the status of the third largest economy in the world. This requires the formulation of carefully calibrated policies and sustained efforts to address the lingering problems of the economy. Foreign Trade Policy 2023 discusses achieving two trillion dollars in trade and announces various innovative policies to address this. Despite rapid strides in trade facilitation measures, India still ranks lower in the logistics performance index and ease of doing business, making it less competitive with its trade competitors. Most international trade occurs through Global Value Chains, and India's participation in GVC is smaller, and the gains are limited. The inverted duty structure prevailing in many product categories prevents participation in the export trade, resulting in additional imports. India's trade needs to be diversified into many products and markets to sustain higher export growth. India has signed many Regional Trade Agreements and is a dominant member of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), an FTA partner with ASEAN, and is actively pursuing an RTA with BIMSTEC.
