Monetary and fiscal support underpin recovery, paired with incentives for manufacturing, MSMEs, digital innovation and exports.
The address emphasises coordinated monetary and fiscal support with calibrated exits to sustain recovery, detailing central bank liquidity operations (long term and targeted repo operations, special refinance and liquidity facilities, sovereign asset purchases) and forward guidance to maintain financial stability. It identifies seven priority growth areas-manufacturing and infrastructure (PLI incentives), MSME relief and credit schemes, digital and R&D investment, health sector capacity, export promotion, strategic FTAs, and services exports-framing these as structural levers to revive growth while remaining vigilant on public health.

Preferential market access expanded: CECPA establishes liberalised trade in goods and services with procedural and safeguard mechanisms.
The Comprehensive Economic Cooperation and Partnership Agreement establishes a bilateral framework to liberalise trade in goods and services, prescribing tariff concessions, rules of origin, customs procedures, and cooperation on technical barriers to trade and sanitary and phytosanitary measures. It provides preferential market access lists for covered products, commitments on services across identified sub sectors including movement of natural persons, and incorporates a dispute settlement framework. The Parties will negotiate an Automatic Trigger Safeguard Mechanism for a limited set of sensitive products within a specified post signature period.

Aircraft operating lease framework allows IFSC-based leasing as a regulated financial product, enabling domestic aviation finance activity.
IFSCA has established a regulatory framework enabling aircraft operating leases in IFSCs by treating aircraft lease transactions, including operating, financial and hybrid leases, as regulated financial products under the IFSC Authority Act; the Framework, issued following a December 2020 consultation paper and stakeholder feedback, sets out the mechanism for lessors and market participants to undertake operating lease business from IFSCs and is published as a Circular on the IFSCA website.

Trade liberalisation under CECPA expands market access and services commitments between India and Mauritius, while including safeguard mechanism.
The document records Cabinet approval to sign the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation and Partnership Agreement (CECPA) between India and Mauritius, a limited bilateral trade framework covering Trade in Goods, Trade in Services, Rules of Origin, TBT, SPS, customs procedures, dispute settlement, movement of natural persons, telecom and financial services; it grants preferential market access lists for specified products and services, establishes an institutional mechanism to promote trade, and provides for negotiation of an Automatic Trigger Safeguard Mechanism for certain sensitive products to be concluded within two years, with the agreement entering into force on the first day of the month following signature.

Trade Balance narrows as combined exports and imports decline, shifting overall deficit markedly in April-January.
Combined merchandise and services exports for April-January 2020-21 are estimated lower than the prior year while overall imports fell more sharply, producing a substantially reduced overall deficit for the period. January 2021 merchandise exports rose in dollar and rupee terms, led by non-petroleum and non-gems & jewellery categories, whereas oil imports declined significantly and non-oil imports rose in January but fell cumulatively. Services receipts and payments for December 2020 declined year-on-year, with January 2021 service estimates provisional.

Port access approval enables diversion of rice exports to reduce anchorage congestion and support export capacity.
Approval for the use of the Kakinada deep-water port was granted to divert rice exports from a congested anchorage port. The decision, communicated after requests by exporters and the national export registration and supervision body, relies on the Andhra Pradesh Maritime Board's control of the facility and aims to streamline shipments, relieve anchorage congestion and maintain export capacity while following COVID-19 safety measures.

Local content requirements restrict procurement to qualifying domestic suppliers; global tenders now require higher-level approval.
The Public Procurement Preference requires bidding eligibility based on supplier local content categories, restricting participation to Class-I and Class-II local suppliers unless a Global Tender Enquiry is approved; where sufficient local capacity exists only Class-I suppliers may bid. The Department of Expenditure amended procurement rules to require competent authority approval before issuing global tenders beyond prescribed thresholds, and sectoral measures (telecom, railways) and a Production Linked Incentive scheme support domestic production and procurement preference.

Net Foreign Exchange obligation for SEZ/EOU units drives export compliance alongside new RoDTEP and facilitation measures.
SEZ and EOU units are subject to a Net Foreign Exchange obligation calculated cumulatively over five years from commencement of production; government measures to support exports include extension of the Foreign Trade Policy and Interest Equalization Scheme, launch of the Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products (RoDTEP), a Common Digital Platform for Certificates of Origin, an Agriculture Export Policy, promotion of Champion Services Sectors, district export hub initiatives, enhanced trade promotion by missions, and COVID era financial relief for exporters, especially MSMEs.

Agriculture export policy promotes export diversification and MoUs to develop clusters, strengthen compliance and benefit farmers.
APEDA has signed MoUs with AFC India Limited and the National Cooperative Union of India to implement the Agriculture Export Policy by developing clusters, providing technical interventions for organic and residue free production, establishing common processing centres, issuing end to end value chain guidelines, facilitating certifications, and building capacity of cooperatives, SHGs and tribal farmer groups to enhance export compliance, value addition and farmer price realization.

SEZ policy: duty free enclave status enables import freedoms and tax incentives while requiring cumulative positive foreign exchange.
The SEZ framework designates a duty free enclave treated as outside India's customs territory, allowing duty free imports without licences, exemption from routine customs examination, authorisation of manufacturing and services, freedom for subcontracting, grant of tax benefits to developers and units, domestic sales subject to customs duty and an obligation for units to achieve Positive Net Foreign Exchange cumulatively over five years.

Cereal export growth: surge in rice, wheat and coarse grain shipments sustained through export promotion and COVID safe measures.
India's cereal exports rose markedly in April-December 2020, increasing their share of APEDA scheduled product exports. Non Basmati rice showed the largest percentage growth, Basmati rice maintained a significant share with Middle Eastern and European markets, wheat and other coarse cereals recorded strong gains, and principal export destinations are identified. The government and APEDA implemented COVID 19 safety and operational measures and established the Rice Export Promotion Forum to coordinate export promotion and logistics.

Economic relief package: targeted credit, social transfers and structural reforms to stabilise growth and support recovery.
The government responded to pandemic-induced GDP contraction with a comprehensive AtmaNirbhar Bharat package combining immediate social protection, expanded employment programmes, enhanced state borrowing capacity, and targeted liquidity and credit measures for MSMEs, NBFCs and farmers (including the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme, partial credit guarantees and NABARD working capital), alongside structural reforms in MSME definition, agricultural deregulation, FDI liberalisation, and infrastructure and financial-sector initiatives to support recovery and medium-term resilience.

Investment promotion through infrastructure financing and incentives aims to unlock private capital and boost domestic manufacturing.
Union Budget 2021-22 prioritises investment-led growth by raising capital expenditure and expanding the National Infrastructure Pipeline, paired with institutional financing measures and creation of a Development Finance Institution. It advances private financing through Public Private Partnership projects and selected divestments, and promotes domestic manufacturing via Production Linked Incentive schemes and customs duty adjustments. The Budget also eases compliance thresholds for small companies and extends labour and social security measures, including a national portal for unorganised and migrant workers and coverage for gig and platform workers.

Agriculture Export Policy expands high-value and value-added agricultural exports and identifies product-district export clusters to boost farmers' incomes.
The Agriculture Export Policy establishes a strategic framework to diversify and boost high-value and value-added agricultural exports, address sanitary and phytosanitary barriers, pursue market access, integrate with global value chains, and enable farmers to benefit from overseas markets. The Policy operationalises these objectives by identifying indicative product-district clusters selected for export promotion based on production endowments, scalability, market share and export growth potential.

Export promotion measures extended and new incentive RoDTEP launched to boost exports and FTA utilisation.
India announced export support measures including extension of the Foreign Trade Policy and the Interest Equalization Scheme for export credit, launch of the RoDTEP incentive scheme, and a Common Digital Platform for Certificates of Origin, together with sectoral policies (Agriculture Export Policy, services action plans), district export hub promotion, enhanced diplomatic trade promotion, and MSME focused pandemic relief.

Trade Policy Review: WTO scrutiny raised tariff and agricultural support queries; India affirms policy rationale and WTO compliance.
WTO members raised queries about India's recent adjustments to applied import duties, MFN applied tariff levels, and agricultural support such as the MSP. India states that applied customs duties are calibrated to further domestic economic objectives and that import duties have been rationalized in certain sectors. India affirms that its agricultural support programmes, including MSP, comply with the Agreement on Agriculture and are being notified to the WTO; replies were provided during the Trade Policy Review.

Trade deficit focus: measures to facilitate exporters and promote domestic manufacturing to rebalance bilateral trade with trading partner.
The document reports trade deficit figures and describes government efforts to rebalance bilateral trade by addressing non tariff barriers, signing export enabling protocols for selected agricultural products, facilitating Buyers Seller Meets and trade fair participation, sensitizing Export Promotion Councils, and promoting domestic manufacturing through ease of doing business and infrastructure provision.

Export promotion measures expanded to include fiscal remission, credit support, digital trade facilitation and sectoral export initiatives.
A suite of policy measures has been deployed to stimulate export growth through trade facilitation, fiscal support and targeted sectoral initiatives. Key actions include the launch of the Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products (RoDTEP) scheme, extension of the Foreign Trade Policy and interest equalization on rupee export credit, a Common Digital Platform for Certificates of Origin, district export hub promotion, an Agriculture Export Policy, champion services sector plans, enhanced diplomatic trade promotion and pandemic relief measures for exporters and MSMEs.

Regulatory and policy measures bolster core industry recovery after pandemic disruptions, combining incentives, reforms and compliance relief.
Production in the Eight Core Industries fell sharply after the nationwide lockdown and began recovering from May 2020; declines are attributed to reduced consumption and investment and lockdown related supply disruptions. The Government responded with demand and supply side measures including Public Procurement support, National Infrastructure Pipeline acceleration, Production Linked Incentives, a comprehensive stimulus with structural reforms (agriculture deregulation, revised MSME definition, coal commercialization, higher FDI in select sectors, industrial land banks, and infrastructure scheme revamps), regulatory reliefs for compliance and tax deadlines, institutional project facilitation, and targeted trade protection measures.

Export hub development: district-level product identification and export promotion to scale local manufacturers and generate employment.
The One District One Product initiative aims to identify district-level products with export potential and convert districts into export hubs by addressing export bottlenecks, supporting local exporters and manufacturers to scale up, preparing Export Action Plans, and coordinating state and district institutional mechanisms to promote manufacturing, services, and employment.