With e-commerce in India being one of the fastest growing export avenues globally, the commerce ministry is working on creating a regulatory framework to boost the country's e-commerce exports, Commerce Secretary Sunil Bhaswal said on Tuesday, adding that the framework would be finalised by September.
India's e-commerce industry is dominated by small and medium-sized enterprises that export products worth between $25 and $1,000. Popular items include handicrafts, art, books, ready-made garments, and gems and jewellery.
According to think tank GTRI, India's e-commerce exports could reach $350 billion by 2030.
Stressing the need to leverage emerging export opportunities, Bhaswal said India's exports through this avenue stood at just $5 billion compared to $300 billion for China. He added that the ministry has been in discussions with revenue officials and industry representatives from logistics and marketplace platforms regarding the framework.
“We are working on setting up e-commerce export hubs in the country. The framework has been discussed. This is on our 100-day agenda. We will establish e-commerce export hubs and the regulatory ecosystem framework. These hubs will be set up near airports and sea ports,” Bhaswal told reporters here.
According to the GTRI report, India's e-commerce exports have the potential to grow at a faster pace than IT exports in the early 2000s. However, despite this potential, India's current e-commerce export numbers are far below their potential.
“India's current e-commerce export regulations are a patchwork of rules tailored for regular B2B exporters. This places a huge compliance burden on small and medium-sized enterprises, and India needs to solve these issues in one place.”
“To meet these needs, the report recommends that the government of India formulate a separate e-commerce export policy. E-commerce policies in China, South Korea, Japan and Vietnam have helped many companies sell globally,” the report said.
© Indian Express Ltd.
First uploaded: July 17, 2024 5:30 AM