India to Establish Dedicated E-commerce Export Hubs: Finance Minister Announces in Union Budget

India is set to establish dedicated e-commerce export hubs to boost online trade, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced in the Union Budget. The government aims to create a streamlined regulatory and logistics environment to support the growing e-commerce sector.

The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) is already collaborating with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and other ministries to implement measures that will facilitate e-commerce exports. The DGFT, an arm of the commerce ministry, has been actively working with the RBI and concerned ministries, including the finance ministry, to promote exports through the e-commerce medium, recognizing the significant export opportunities in the sector.

Industry experts suggest that these hubs will facilitate export clearances and offer additional services such as warehousing, customs clearance, returns processing, labeling, testing, and repackaging.

Ashwani Kumar, President of the Federation of Indian Export Organisation (FIEO), praised the Union Budget for its efforts to enhance the competitiveness of exports in the leather and textile sectors. He noted the reduction in Basic Customs Duty (BCD) on real down filling material from ducks or geese, additions to the list of exempted goods for manufacturing leather and textile garments, footwear, and other leather articles, and the simplification and rationalization of the export duty structure on raw hides, skins, and leather as significant boosts for the export sector during challenging times.

The FIEO Chief reiterated that setting up E-commerce Export Hubs under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) mode will enable MSMEs and traditional artisans to sell their products in international markets and promote trade and export-related services under one roof. This initiative will also help promote the Districts as Export Hubs and One District One Product schemes of the government, thereby supporting GI products and handicraft goods. These hubs will showcase such products, benefiting artisans, craftsmen, and farmers by significantly increasing their income.

Kumar further emphasized, “priority to productivity and resilience in agriculture by transforming agricultural research is the key to further giving boost to the sector. Natural farming along with Shrimp production & export and digital public infrastructure will help in fast-tracking growth of rural economy and generation of employment opportunities on a large-scale with a budget provision of 1.52 lakh crore for agriculture and allied sector,”.