Our Bureau
New Delhi
The Central Government is looking to boost e-commerce exports of India by preparing a major policy shift. They are looking to create special export entities that will manage customs clearances, compliance paperwork and logistics, while sellers, majorly Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), can steer its complete focus on product development, quality and branding.
As per the reports, the Commerce Ministry of India is looking to launch a pilot program that would first allow only a few export entities to operate and would scale up steadily following the results. It is also reported that this new model has been under discussion for some time now and the government has even consulted global giants like Amazon, Flipkart, FedEx, DHL along with the Reserve Bank of India’s Foreign Exchange Department.
This new model of the government looks to simplify the trade across countries for small sellers who struggle greatly with the complexity and cost of compliance. Through this new model the export entities would act as third-party facilitators and will handle documentation, coordinate logistics, and even process refunds or returns.
Not only that, small sellers might also be entitled to claim export benefits such as refunds on Goods and Services Tax and drawback on tariffs. There will also be a mechanism that is being considered to share those incentives with MSMEs.
It is expected that this new model is also expected to be integrated with the government’s E-commerce Export Hubs scheme which will help it create dedicated zones for processing shipments. The Indian government, by lowering these entry barriers, is hoping to boost the participation of small and mid-sized firms in cross-border e-commerce and diversify the export base of the country.
