India is expanding free trade agreements (FTAs) and economic partnership pacts to widen textile and apparel export access.
Promotion will use overseas missions, councils, and district hubs, while FTA provisions address technical barriers and standards transparency.
MSMEs and small exporters are backed by e-commerce export hubs, finance, compliance, logistics support, and courier-export reforms.
The measures include focused promotion through the Export Promotion Mission, Indian Missions overseas, Export Promotion Councils, industry associations and other stakeholders, alongside district and sector-specific export promotion under the Districts as Export Hubs initiative and capacity-building programmes, the Ministry of Commerce & Industry said in a press release.
FTA provisions on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) are aimed at improving mutual understanding of standards, technical regulations and transparency measures.
The government also engages trading partners through bilateral, regional and multilateral mechanisms to address non-tariff barriers, including market access issues, sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures, TBT, standards, conformity assessment and regulatory requirements.
For smaller exporters, the government has listed policy and facilitation measures for cross-border e-commerce exports, particularly for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), startups, artisans and small exporters. The Export Promotion Mission (EPM), launched in 2025, comprises NIRYAT PROTHSAHAN for trade finance access and NIRYAT DISHA for quality, compliance, branding, packaging, market access, logistics, warehousing and trade intelligence.
The ‘E-Commerce Export Hub’ initiative is being implemented on a pilot basis to create an integrated ecosystem for e-commerce exports by facilitating logistics, customs clearances and other export-related services. Under the District Export Hub initiative, each district is to identify and prioritise 3-5 products or services with viable export potential for targeted interventions, the bureau said.
The government has also cited reforms to simplify courier-mode exports and lower compliance burdens, including Reserve Bank of India relaxation of export reconciliation requirements for small-value exports, removal of the per-consignment value limit for courier exports through notifications dated March 27, 2026 and March 31, 2026, and simplified reverse logistics for re-import of export rejects and returned goods.
Fibre2Fashion News Desk
