Piyush Goyal plans 1,000 trained personnel to boost exports

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Tuesday said the government will train about 1,000 local personnel in regional languages to support exporters at the district and state levels. He also announced integrated commerce and industry offices in major cities to provide businesses a single point of access to multiple departments. The announcements came at a stakeholder workshop on ease of doing business and free trade agreement opportunities.

Industry representatives called for end-to-end digitisation of export processes, including digital transmission and verification of Certificates of Origin under FTAs. They flagged delays caused by fragmented systems and repeated manual verification, which they said locks up working capital through bank guarantees, sometimes for up to 10 years. The Commerce Ministry said it is examining the proposal to extend electronic processes to other FTA partners.

Goyal also highlighted the Trade Connect platform being developed to provide exporters with product-wise tariff and FTA information using digital and AI-enabled tools. The roller chain and industrial components sector reported that policy interventions such as Quality Control Orders and Minimum Import Price provisions have led to a 15-fold expansion, investments of around Rs 500 crore and about 5,000 new jobs.