Trade between India and Bangladesh, which had been stalled for the last two days due to violence in the neighboring country, resumed on Wednesday.

The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) has announced significant enhancements to the Export Promotion Capital Goods (EPCG) Scheme aimed at simplifying processes, reducing transaction costs and promoting automation to benefit exporters vide Public Notice No. 15 dated 25th July 2024. These changes align with the commitment of the Government to create a more business-friendly environment and improving India’s manufacturing competitiveness.

As per the changes, the scheme will now provide exporters an extended period to submit Installation Certificates for imported Capital Goods. This extension reduces pressure on businesses, allowing them to focus more on production and export activities.

Further, a simplified and reduced composition fee structure for extending the Export Obligation (EO) period has been introduced. This change minimises manual intervention, streamlines compliance and speeds up service delivery.

Also, from now all Policy Relaxation Committee (PRC) decisions regarding Export Obligation extensions and regularisation of exports will be implemented with a levy of uniform composition fee making it easier to implement through the system.

Benefits for Exporters:

These updates make it easier for exporters to comply with regulations, reducing the time and effort required to meet DGFT requirements. By expanding automated rule-based processes, DGFT aims to reduce human intervention, mitigate risks and improve overall efficiency in trade facilitation.

Commitment to Modernization and Efficiency:

Since the announcement of the new Foreign Trade Policy in April 2023, DGFT has been actively modernising its systems to expand automated rule-based processes. These initiatives are crucial steps towards fostering a more business-friendly environment and enhancing India’s competitiveness in the global market. DGFT has already taken efforts to automate the authorisation issue process, ad-hoc norms fixation process under Advance Authorisation, export obligation extension, automatic status holder certificate issue, among others, in recent days. It is planned that in the coming months, more and more processes will be system driven with minimal or no human intervention to order to facilitate trade and industry.

It is observed that the Food Processing Industries have emerged as an important part of the Indian economy in terms of its contribution to Gross Domestic Product (GDP), employment, exports etc. During the last eight years ending 2022-23, Food Processing sector has been growing at an Average Annual Growth Rate (AAGR) of around 5.35%. 

ICAR-Indian Institute of Horticulture Research (IIHR) highlights the importance of guava cultivation going by the processing benefits for both farmers and food product manufacturing industry. Even as it is an income generation for farmers, the processing of guava creates employment opportunities.

Madhya Pradesh Cooperative Dairy Federation (MPCDF), that markets packaged milk and other milk byproducts, is mulling over exporting ghee, a move seen aiding in clearing pile up stocks and expanding the reach to foreign countries.