Commerce Secy: Need extra FTAs or can be shut out of worldwide mkts

India wants to have interaction with the remainder of the world on commerce and must enter into free commerce agreements (FTAs), Commerce Secretary BVR Subrahmanyam mentioned on Wednesday. He famous that the federal government was concentrating on merchandised exports of $1 trillion by 2027-28 up from $290 billion within the final fiscal.
“We need to be engaged with the rest of the world, without that India will be shut out of the global markets,” mentioned Subrahmanyam at a CII occasion, including India wanted to enter bilateral agreements because it was not a part of any regional commerce preparations
He mentioned the federal government is fast-tracking six of the 20 FTAs which can be at the moment below negotiation with the remainder occurring “slightly on the back burner”, including that an FTA with the UAE would seemingly be struck the earliest.
“There’s one (FTA) under discussion with the UK. After Brexit, UK is looking at a partnership with India economically. The Australians are looking at an FTA with us, negotiations are on,” mentioned the Commerce Secretary, noting that negotiations with the EU have been extra complicated as they might require inner settlement between 27 member international locations.
“We need to have FTAs but at the same time, you have to do it in a balanced manner,” Subrahmanyam mentioned.
He additionally famous that the Centre hoped to inform the tax refund charges for the Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products (RoDTEP) later this week.