Goyal unveils plans to propel MSMEs into global e-comm arena

Commerce minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday said the government is taking a slew of measures to facilitate Indian micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to reach global markets directly through e-commerce by extending duty remission to them, relaxing payment terms, raising consignment cap, setting up export facilitating post-offices across the country, creating e-exports zones and roping in online marketplaces such as Amazon to handhold them at the district-level.

- Rajeev Jayaswal

Citing India’s Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) that envisaged $1 trillion of merchandise exports by 2030, the minister said “e-commerce can become a natural bridge between MSMEs and global market” and help Indian artisans and craftsmen to become entrepreneurs. The new trade policy is effective from April 1, 2023. MSMEs contribute about 30% of the country’s GDP and 40% of its manufacturing. There are over 21 million registered MSMEs under the government’s Udyam portal.

Goyal said the Narendra Modi government works with a “whole of the government approach” with all ministries and departments working in tandem to achieve common goals.