Pilot for China-like less-than-a-minute nod to e-commerce exports soon to take off: DGFT

India is trying to compete with China in e-commerce exports.

The government looks to start a pilot for fast-track clearance to e-commerce exports to match pace with countries like China, Santosh Kumar Sarangi, director-general of the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), said on December 18.

The commerce ministry is partnering with Shoprocket, DHL and Cargo Service Centre to roll out the pilot project for less-than-a-minute clearance of e-commerce exports, Sarangi said at an event organised by the Confederation of Indian Industries.

India is trying to compete with China in e-commerce exports, but currently accounts for less than 5 percent of the neighbouring country's e-commerce exports. “They do e-commerce exports of $300-350 billion, while our exports are just $5-7 billion. This shows the potential and the gap in e-commerce exports in India,” he said.

Besides fast clearance, Sarangi stated that the government is also focussing on access to financing, which is a big challenge. “Exim bank will help create financial instruments to help cover ecommerce.”

An extension of the Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products (RoDTEP) and Rebate of State and Central Taxes and Levies (RoSCTL) on items for all postal bill of exports is being mooted, while the government is also working on a subsidised collateral arrangement.

“High collateral demand is big deterrent for MSMEs to get into the export market. Subsidised collateral arrangement is something we are working with the department of expenditure,” Sarangi said.

Promoting Brand India 

The government is weighing a pilot with major hospital chains for promotion of medical tourism. “There are plans for branding of medical tourism plans. We are trying to talk to big hospital chains like Apollo, Max and Fortis to ensure that we are able to target markets and get more medical value travellers,” the DGFT chief said.