Working With RBI, Other Ministries On Steps To Promote E-Comm Exports: DGFT

The commerce ministry's arm DGFT is working with the RBI and concerned ministries, including the finance ministry, on several steps like providing flexibility in payment realisation to promote exports through e-commerce medium, a senior government official said on Thursday.

Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) Santosh Kumar Sarangi said that huge export opportunities are there in the e-commerce sector.

"India is well poised to take advantage of e-commerce benefits, and for this, the biggest requirement is to change our mindsets...So, this would require a lot of changes in the regulations," he told reporters here.

Sarangi said DGFT is working with departments like revenue, post, MSME, DPIIT (department for the promotion of industry and internal trade) and the RBI.

They all are part of an inter-ministerial working group, which is working on facilitating exports through the e-commerce medium.

"We are working with RBI to facilitate the policies related to the realisation of foreign exchange. In normal B2B (business-to-business), they have a policy by which foreign exchange realisation has to happen within 270 days, but e-commerce would require a slightly different ecosystem. So, we are working with the RBI to bring in flexibility in this payment realisation," he said.

The new FTP (foreign trade policy) 2023 has raised the value limit of e-commerce exports through couriers from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 10 lakh per shipment.

On this, he said that the Department of Revenue is of the view that the limit can be removed depending on the outcome.

DGFT said the Department of Post has opened 1,000 Dak Niryat Kendras as of November to link foreign post offices with the hinterlands.

"We are also working with the Department of Revenue for developing or designating e-commerce export zones, where the export clearances are facilitated and done quickly," he said.

Exports through the e-commerce medium are growing at a faster pace globally, and as per estimates, it will touch USD 2 trillion by 2030 from the current level of USD 800 billion.

China is a leading player in this segment, with about USD 350 billion worth of exports.

Sarangi further said that the huge Indian diaspora also provides an opportunity for these exports.