Foreign Trade Policy likely to be unveiled after the Budget

Jaipur: The much-delayed Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) is expected to be unveiled after the Budget, a top government official said. The announcement of the FTP (2014-19) is delayed, as ministries of commerce and finance are yet to take the final call on granting tax incentives to export promotion schemes.

The foreign trade policy, which is usually announced in April, gives guidelines for enhancing exports with the overall objective of pushing economic growth and generating employment.

Under the policy, the government gives fiscal incentives to exporters under different promotion schemes such as Market Access Initiative, Marketing Development Assistance, Vishesh  Krishi and Gram Udyog Yojana, Focus Market Scheme, Focus  Product Scheme and Market Linked Focus Products Scrip.  The Finance Ministry has to allocate funds for these schemes and even after allocation.  Exporters have already raised concerns over the delay in announcement of the FTP. Ten months of the current fiscal are already over. 

The Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) has said that the delay is hampering shipments, as exporters are unable to take any long-term positions in the absence of clear guidelines.  India's merchandise exports declined 3.77 per cent in December while imports fell 4.78 per cent during the month, narrowing the trade deficit to 10-month low of USD 9.46 billion, amid sharp reduction in crude oil prices and  moderating global demand. 

Trade data from the commerce and industry ministry said, exports stood at USD 25.39 billion, while for the April-December period, the outbound shipment was USD 241.15  billion, up 4.02 per cent. Exports had risen by 7.27 per cent in November after declining 5.04 per cent in October.