Industry Must Utilise FTAs, Focus On Value Addition To Strenghten Global Trade, Says Commerce Official
“The share of capital goods in India's export basket has already risen from 13 per cent in 2014 to 19 per cent today, but that trajectory must be accelerated. There should be building supply-chain resilience, as China's concentration in upstream materials is a risk for the world,” Singh said
New Delhi: The government on Thursday said that the industry must utilise free trade agreements (FTAs), focus on value addition, build resilient supply chains, and actively diversify export markets to boost manufacturing and strengthen the country's position in global trade, according to a top commerce ministry official.
“All the trade agreements, which India has signed, is a door, but doors, however magnificently crafted, do not open themselves. It is the industry that must walk through them and should use FTAs to expand market access, attract investment and technology, diversify supply chains, and build manufacturing ecosystems that can withstand global shocks,” said additional secretary in the department of commerce Yashvir Singh in a conclave.
Singh further said that the ambition is not merely to participate in global manufacturing but to make India a reliable, competitive, and trusted partner in global value chains. “I place before this audience five imperatives, not suggestions, but strategic obligations. First, invest in FTA utilisation. Understand the rules of origin requirements. Map your supply chains to qualify for preferential tariffs. The duty savings are real. The competitive advantage is immediate,” he said.
“The share of capital goods in India's export basket has already risen from 13 per cent in 2014 to 19 per cent today, but that trajectory must be accelerated. There should be building supply-chain resilience, as China's concentration in upstream materials is a risk for the world,” Singh said.
"For India, it is also an opportunity. Invest in critical minerals, in application programming interface (API) manufacturing, in domestic electronic components. Every supply chain we secure is a choke point we neutralise. Fourth, diversify markets actively,” he added.
India's trade pacts with Oman, New Zealand, and Mauritius have opened corridors in the Gulf, Oceania, and East Africa that were earlier inaccessible on preferential terms. “Fifth, engage in standards. The country that rides the technical standards owns the market. India must move from being a standard taker to a standard setter. UPI, ONDC, and BharatNet are early signals of what sovereign standards can achieve,” he said.
The official also said, “Let us not be China plus one. Let us be India, the trusted partner, the resilient manufacturer, and the next great engine of global growth. On global uncertainties, restrictions on critical minerals are being weaponised, technology choke points are being deliberately engineered and trade is no longer just an economic instrument,” he said.
“It has become a tool of geographic statecraft. The consequences of this shift are visible most clearly in the global concentration of manufacturing and critical supply chains. China today dominates large segments of critical mineral processing and refining, including rare earths, graphite and magnesium. One country's concentration has become the biggest economic security risk of these times,” he added.
