A fresh foreign trade policy in FY24: Goyal

He said export promotion councils wanted the policy to be aligned with the next financial year as they sought more time to make presentations for including certain aspects in the new policy for consideration.

“With multiple industry bodies debating the contours, and gearing up for the upcoming FTP which was due to launch on 29 September, all speculation and proposed action plans will now be postponed for another six months, as the validity of the current FTP stands extended to 31 March 2023,” Abhishek Jain, Partner Indirect Tax, KPMG in India said.

“The government wants to break silos and work with export promotion councils (EPCs) and all other stakeholders and play the role of a non-intrusive facilitator,” Goyal said, adding that the services sector had set an export target of $350 billion, which it was on track to achieving.

He also urged EPCs to consider exploring new markets such as South America and Africa.

Speaking at an industry event organized by the Services Export Promotion Council (SEPC), Goyal said subsidies make the industry uncompetitive and that the government’s strategy on subsidies was focused on the poor and the needy.

He urged SEPC to keep pursuing ambitious targets, saying these targets not get affected by small subsidies and incentives. Goyal said the main factor behind the success of India’s LED lighting initiative was removal of subsidies.