India Considers Cutting Export Costs

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Apr. 28 – The Indian government is looking for ways to cut costs for exporters to make them more competitive in world markets.

This may involve simplifying procedures and transparency issues as well as doing away with cost inefficiencies. The Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Jyotiraditya Scindia is heading a task force to study the matter and will submit a report by June.

The task force is also studying export procedure practices by Denmark and Singapore. Scindia told The Economic Times that transaction costs are estimated at US$12-15 billion, or about 7 to 8 percent of total export value.

“Even if we are able to work on and reduce up to 30 percent of these costs, we will be rendering a huge benefit to the exporting community,” he added. Compared to export businesses in Malaysia and China, Indian exporters are faced with much higher fees.

In February, India’s exports grew by 34.8 percent to US$16.09 billion compared to the same period last year.