The Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal underscored the need for deeper Centre–State collaboration to expand India’s export capacity, emphasising that economic growth and large-scale employment generation hinge on a sustained push in outbound trade. Addressing the fourth meeting of the reconstituted Board of Trade (BoT) in New Delhi, the Minister highlighted the resilience of India’s economy amid global uncertainties and reaffirmed the government’s commitment to driving export-led expansion.
He announced that the Export Promotion Mission will include targeted interventions to support landlocked States, enabling them to strengthen competitiveness and overcome structural constraints. Based on inputs from States, the Ministry of Commerce will work in close coordination with relevant agencies to identify practical, timely solutions to emerging challenges. Reiterating the importance of product quality, the Minister said India’s reputation as a trusted global exporter depends on consistently meeting the highest standards. He stressed that every product leaving India must reflect excellence, as quality assurance is central to building long-term confidence among global partners.
The Minister urged States to actively share successful models and innovative practices—particularly in Ease of Doing Business and Single Window systems—to foster healthy competition. He noted that replicating strong State-level reforms would lead to more efficient governance, smoother trade facilitation and improved outcomes for exporters nationwide.
The Board of Trade, reconstituted in 2019 through the merger of the Council for Trade Development and Promotion, continues to function as the apex advisory body for policy recommendations under the Foreign Trade Policy aimed at strengthening the nation’s trade ecosystem.
During the meeting, the Minister reviewed the progress made on key initiatives announced in previous BoT sessions. A significant highlight was the rapid expansion of the Trade Connect ePlatform, launched in September 2024. Now integrating services from Indian Missions, the Department of Commerce, DGFT, Export Promotion Councils, Exim Bank and others, the portal has recorded over 62 lakh visits and 18 lakh registrations. With multilingual support, more than 22 lakh digital Certificates of Origin issued, and extensive market intelligence tools for MSMEs, Trade Connect is emerging as a comprehensive digital gateway for exporters.
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He also cited the strong performance of the Jan Sunwai video-conferencing module, which resolved 3,377 of 3,518 grievances, achieving a 96% closure rate and reinforcing the Ministry’s focus on citizen-centric trade facilitation.
The extension of the RoDTEP scheme until 31 March 2026 has provided stability and predictability for exporters. The Minister further highlighted India’s strengthened trade diplomacy, noting landmark FTAs such as the India–EFTA TEPA (March 2024) and the India–UK Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (July 2025), with several negotiations underway with other key partners. He stressed that the newly launched Export Promotion Mission aims to create a coordinated, technology-driven support system involving government, industry and academia to enable sector-specific export strategies.
States presented best practices on export promotion and Ease of Doing Business, enabling knowledge exchange and cooperation. The Minister reiterated that India’s export strategy now prioritises market diversification, logistics reforms, MSME empowerment and technology integration—critical pillars for enhancing participation in global value chains and positioning India as a trusted global trading partner.
Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agarwal highlighted the importance of strengthening last-mile connectivity between exporters and support institutions, expanding digital public infrastructure for trade, and improving coordination across agencies to bolster competitiveness.
DGFT and Additional Secretary Ajay Bhadoo outlined efforts to ensure that all trade-facilitation services become fully digital and paperless. He emphasised that initiatives such as the Trade Connect ePlatform and digital Certificates of Origin are designed to lower compliance burdens, reduce costs for MSMEs and help exporters tap new global opportunities.
The meeting saw active participation from Ministers of various State Governments, senior officials from the Centre and States/UTs, Export Promotion Councils, industry associations, exporters and trade experts, reaffirming a collective commitment to strengthening India’s modern, technology-enabled, globally competitive trade ecosystem.
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