Year End Review 2023 - Ministry of Commerce and Industry

About the Ministry

• Union Minister- Shri Piyush Goyal
• It is responsible for administering two departments namely
  • Department of Commerce
  • Department of Industry and Internal Trade

• Autonomous Bodies-
  • The Marine Products Export Development Authority
  • Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority

• Export Inspection Council
• Indian Institute of Foreign Trade
• Indian Institute of Packaging
• Commodity Boards

The Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA)-

• Statutory body- Under MPEDA Act 1972.
• Role- It is entrusted with the primary task of promotion of export of marine products.
• Headquarters- Cochin, Kerala.

Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA)-

• Statutory body - Under APEDA Act 1985.
• Role – Responsible for export promotion and development of scheduled products like honey, meat, dairy products etc.,
• Headquarters- New Delhi.

Export Inspection Council (EIC)

• It is the official export –certification body of India which ensures quality and safety of products exported from India.
• It is set up under Export (Quality Control and Inspection) Act, 1963 to ensure sound development of export trade of India through quality control and inspection and matters connected therewith.
• Headquarters- New Delhi
• Role- To ensure that products notified under the Act are meeting the requirements of the importing countries in respect of their quality and safety.
• It is the only organization in India having global acceptance.

Key Initiatives/Achievements of the Ministry

Export Performance

• Despite global headwinds, both merchandise and services exports have robust performance.
• India’s overall export (Merchandise plus Services) stood at USD 499.46 billion during April-November 2023 as compared to USD 506.52 billion during April-November 2022.

Foreign Trade Policy, 2023

• It was launched with the aim of India’s exports to 2 trillion dollars by 2030.
• Four Pillars

1. Incentive to Remission
2. Export promotion through collaboration
3. Ease of doing business, reduction in transaction cost and e-initiatives
4. Emerging Areas

• It encourages recognition of new towns through Towns of Export Excellence Scheme and exporters through Status Holder Scheme.

To know more about Foreign Trade Policy, 2023 Click here

Districts as Export Hubs Scheme

• Aim- To convert each district of the country into an export hub.
• One District One Product Scheme has been merged with this scheme; it is a part of new Foreign Trade Policy.
• It will increase production, grow exports, generate economic activity and achieve the goal of AtmaNirbhar Bharat, Vocal for local and Make in India.

Trade Infrastructure for Export Scheme

• Launch year- 2017-18
• Objective- To enhance export competitiveness by bridging gaps in export infrastructure, creating focused export infrastructure, first mile and last mile connectivity for export-oriented projects and addressing quality and certification measures.
• It will provide financial assistance to Central/State Government owned agencies for setting up or up-grading export infrastructure in States/UTs.

Market Access Initiatives Scheme

• It is an Export Promotion Scheme envisaged to act as a catalyst to promote India’s export on a sustained basis.
• It provides financial assistance for export promotion and the scheme is formulated on focus product-focus country approach to evolve specific market and specific product through market studies/survey.

Interest Equalization Scheme

• Launch year- 2015
• It is a rebate of interest provided on pre and post shipment export credit like packing credit.
• The Scheme is recently extended up to March 2024.

Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products Scheme

• Launch year- 2021
• It is a tax refund scheme for exporters that replaced the Merchandise Export from India Scheme (MEIS).
• It would not be available in respect of duties and taxes already exempted, credited or remitted.

Government e-Marketplace

• It is a 100% government owned National Public Procurement Portal for procurement of goods and services required by Central and State Government organizations.
• GeM endeavours to make public procurement process transparent, efficient and inclusive.
• Startup Runaway 2.0- It is an opportunity for Start-ups to showcase their innovative products and services to Government buyers and engage in public procurement.
• MSME SC/ST entrepreneurs on GeM- GeM is collaborating with various stakeholders from MSME ecosystem with special focus on entrepreneurs from the Scheduled Caste/ Schedule Tribes.
  • Mandatory procurement - 25% from MSMEs
  • Sub target procurement - 4% goods and services from MSME entrepreneurs within SC/ST communities
• Womaniya - It seeks to showcase products made by women entrepreneurs and women self-help groups; it promotes women entrepreneurship by aligning them with opportunities to sell their products at GeM portal.
• SARAS Collection- It is a store front in GeM for marketing of Self-help group (SHG) products.

Common Digital Platform for Certificate of Origin

• It has been launched to facilitate trade and increase Free Trade Agreement utilization by exporters.
• It is designed to facilitate exporters through a secure, electronic, paperless procedures.

G20

• Under India’s Presidency, the G20 Trade and Investment Ministerial reached a ground breaking consensus.
• Jaipur Call for Action- It was issued for enhancing access to information for MSMEs.
• G20 Generic Mapping Framework for Global Value Chains (GVCs)- It contained key building blocks of data, analysis, and representation of GVC data.

To know more about G20 summit – Click here

Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity

• It was launched jointly by the USA and other partner countries of the Indo-Pacific region in 2022 at Tokyo, Japan.
• It has 14 partner countries including India.
• It seeks to strengthen economic partnership amongst participating countries with the objective of enhancing resilience, sustainability, inclusiveness, economic growth, fairness, and competitiveness in the Indo-Pacific region.

To know more about IPEF, Click here

• IPEF Supply Chain Resilience Agreement - During the 3^rd IPEF Ministerial meeting, 2023 held in San Francisco, California, the first-of-its-kind IPEF Supply Chain Resilience Agreement was signed.
• The Agreement is expected to make IPEF supply chains more resilient, robust, and well-integrated, and contribute towards economic development and progress of the region as a whole.

Bharat Mandapam

• International Exhibition-cum-Convention Centre (IECC) complex was inaugurated at New Delhi.
• It will help showcase and promote India as a global business destination
• Prime Minister of India urged the nation to move ahead with the principle of ‘Think Big, Dream Big, Act Big’.

Vanijya Bhawan

• It is the new premises of Ministry of Commerce and Industry located in New Delhi.
• It is designed as a smart building which incorporates the principles of sustainable architecture with a special focus on energy saving.

NIRYAT Portal

• National Import-Export Record for Yearly Analysis of Trade is launched in 2022.
• It is developed as a one stop platform for stakeholders to get all necessary information related to India’s foreign trade.

Invest India

• It is the National Investment Promotion and Facilitation Agency of India and acts as the first point of reference for investors.
• It acts as a facilitation arm for the Government of India for two of its key initiatives “Make in India” and “Start-up”.

Make in India

• It is an initiative under Atma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan launched in 2014.
• Role- To promote entrepreneurship, innovation, and skill development in India's manufacturing, infrastructure, and service sectors.
• Pillars- New processes, new infrastructure, new sectors, and new mind set.
• It was one of the first 'Vocal for Local' initiatives that exposed India's manufacturing domain to the world.

Start-up India

• It was launched in 2016 with the objective of supporting entrepreneurs, building up a robust start-up ecosystem and transforming India into a country of job creators instead of job seekers.

Fund of Funds

• It was launched to encourage investments in the startups.
• It does not directly invest in startups, instead provides capital to SEBI-registered Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs), known as daughter funds, who in turn invest money in growing Indian startups through equity and equity-linked instruments.
• Mandate- Small Industrial Development Bank of India.

Startup India Seed Fund Scheme

• Aim- To provide financial assistance to startups for proof of concept, prototype development, product trials, market entry and commercialization.
• It envisages building a robust Start-up ecosystem in the country for nurturing innovation and providing opportunities to budding entrepreneurs.

Credit Guarantee Scheme for Startups (CGSS)-

• It has been operationalized in 2023 which provides credit guarantees to loans extended by Scheduled Commercial Banks, Non-Banking Financial Companies and Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) registered Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs).
• Aim- Providing credit guarantee up to a specified limit against loans extended by Member Institutions (MIs) to finance eligible borrowers viz. entities recognised as ‘startups’ by DPIIT PM Gati Shakti (Logistics Division).

Geographical Indications Registry

• It is a statutory organization setup for the administration of the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration & Protection) Act, 1999.
• Geographical indication is a type of intellectual property right that is basically used for product protection with regards to its geographical origin.

National Single Window System

• It was launched in 2021 to provide “end to end” facilitation and support to investors.
• It is a one-stop shop for investor related approvals and services in the country,

PM Gati Shakti (Logistics Division)

• PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan (NMP)- It was launched on 2021 for providing multimodal connectivity infrastructure to various economic zones.
• National Logistics Policy, 2022- It complements the PM Gati Shakti NMP, it lays down an overarching interdisciplinary, cross-sectoral, multi-modal jurisdictional and comprehensive policy framework for the Logistics Sector.
• Unified Logistics Interface Platform (ULIP) - It was launched in 2022 designed and developed by National Industrial Corridor Corporation, under the guidance of NITI Aayog.
• Logistics Ease Across Different States (LEADS)- The report was launched in 2022, it is an indigenous logistics performance index developed on the lines of World Bank’s Logistics Performance Index.

Bilateral Co-operation

India-US

• India – United States Trade Policy Forum (TPF) - It launched a new working group on Resilient Trade to deepen bilateral dialogue on a range of issues that can enhance the resiliency and sustainability of the trade relationship.
• Semiconductor Supply Chains - A MoU on Semiconductor Supply Chain and Innovation Partnership was signed between India and US to facilitate supply chain resiliency.
• Innovation Handshake- It is a joint initiative between India and US to enhance innovative ecosystems through the framework of India-US Commercial Dialogue.

India-UAE

• Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) - It is the free trade agreement between India and UAE that was signed in 2022
• It covers the trade in services and investment, and other areas of economic partnership.
• India became the first country with which the UAE has signed a CEPA.
• UAE-India CEPA Council (UICC) - India & UAE agreed to set-up a UAE-India CEPA Council (UICC) as a B2B collaboration mechanism, with a focus on MSMEs and start-ups, for building greater economic linkages and optimizing CEPA benefits.

India - Australia

• Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA) -India and Australia have signed the historic Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (Ind-Aus ECTA) in 2022.
• It is the 1^st free trade agreement signed by India with a developed country in a decade and 1^st time that India has taken binding most-favoured-nations (MFN) commitments even though it is only in select services.
• It is estimated to double trade between the two nations and generate one million jobs.

Other Quick events

• Global Millets (Shree Anna) Conference - It was held in New Delhi to stimulate the exports of millets from India and provide market linkage to the producers.
• Spices Board - It organized the World Spice Congress at Navi Mumbai in 2023.
• National Turmeric Board - The government notified the constitution of National Turmeric Board in 2023.
• It will focus on the development and growth of turmeric and turmeric products in the country.

References

1. Department of Commerce- Annual Report 2022-23
2. DPIIT- Annual Report 2022-23
3. PIB-  Year End Review Department of Commerce
4. GeM- GeM Exclusive