Trade balance and export composition shifted in April 2023, with services growth offsetting weaker merchandise flows.
India's April 2023 trade estimates show combined merchandise and services exports rising modestly while overall imports declined, producing a narrower trade deficit; services April figures are provisional pending Reserve Bank revision. Eleven of thirty merchandise sectors recorded export growth, including Oil Meals, Electronic Goods, Rice and Pharmaceuticals, while twenty three sectors showed import contractions, notably Project Goods, Fertilisers, Gold, Vegetable Oil and Petroleum products. Non petroleum and non gems & jewellery exports and imports both fell year on year.

Trade Promotion advances India-Canada food sector collaboration, urging quality, value addition and participation in World Food India.
Ministerial advocacy emphasizes Trade Promotion and Value Addition in the agricultural and food processing sector to expand India-Canada commercial engagement. The statement prioritizes improving product quality, scale, design and packaging to build consumer trust, encourages participation in trade fairs including World Food India, and invites Canadian firms to engage with India under G20 outreach. It highlights millets as a strategic export opportunity and frames public-private promotional mechanisms as instruments to deepen market access and expand agri-based exports.

Coordinated investment promotion and information exchange to strengthen bilateral trade and investment ties through an MoU and annual dialogues.
Agreement to pursue coordinated investment promotion and information exchange via a Memorandum of Understanding, with officials to advance cooperation in services, clean technologies, critical minerals, electric vehicles and batteries, renewable energy/hydrogen, and AI. Ministers reaffirmed that the EPTA in Free Trade Agreement negotiations would cover goods, services, investment, rules of origin, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, technical barriers to trade, and dispute settlement, while committing to G2G coordination for critical mineral supply chain resiliency through an annual dialogue and to relaunch a Canada-India CEO Forum to support B2B engagement.

Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement negotiations advanced, with an Early Progress Trade Agreement proposed to secure high level trade and investment commitments.
Negotiations were reaffirmed to pursue a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) with an interim Early Progress Trade Agreement (EPTA) covering commitments on goods, services, investment, rules of origin, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, technical barriers to trade and dispute settlement, and the MDTI designated as the institutional mechanism to advance negotiations, discuss trade remedy issues, and maintain an annual work plan.

Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement spurred stronger India UAE trade ties and inaugurated a jewellery exposition to deepen commercial links.
Inauguration of the International Jewellery Exposition Centre in Dubai and related B2B activities under the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) showcased early trade gains, engaged about 100 companies and Export Promotion Councils, included an Indian Pavilion visit, and featured commemorative "CEPA - Beyond Trade" events alongside meetings with UAE sovereign wealth funds to strengthen investment linkages.

Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement strengthens bilateral trade and investment ties and promotes sectoral investment and cooperation.
The Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between India and the UAE functions as a bilateral trade and investment facilitation instrument that has enhanced market access, trade flows, and investor engagement since entry into force. Official accounts attribute measurable increases in bilateral trade and exports to CEPA implementation. Implementation is accompanied by high level promotion and outreach-ministerial engagements, investment meetings, and sectoral promotion-aimed at attracting investments into renewables and the digital economy and deepening institutional cooperation between public and private stakeholders.

Ministerial Dialogue on Trade and Investment advances bilateral trade, reviews CEPA negotiations and promotes investment cooperation.
The Ministerial Dialogue on Trade and Investment serves as a bilateral mechanism to address trade and investment issues, focusing on strengthening bilateral trade, investment promotion, B2B engagements and the green transition including critical minerals. Ministers will review ongoing Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) negotiations, which may include an interim or early progress trade agreement, following multiple negotiation rounds. Parallel trade promotion activities include CEO roundtables, financial sector discussions, an Indian Pavilion at a major food innovation trade show, and a trade and investment promotion event for the agricultural and food processing sectors to facilitate exporter importer meetings.

CEPA expands tariff concessions and services commitments, enhancing bilateral trade and export opportunities between India and UAE.
Implementation of the India-UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement expanded preferential market access in goods and services, with the UAE eliminating duties on the majority of its tariff lines covering almost all imports from India and India granting immediate duty elimination on a large share of its tariff lines covering most export value. Utilisation of preferential Certificates of Origin rose sharply, and the tariff removals principally benefitted labour intensive and export oriented sectors such as textiles, gems and jewellery, electrical machinery, automobiles, agri commodities and cosmetics.

Automated GST return scrutiny to be introduced, with tech-driven taxpayer services and measures against fake billing.
The Finance Minister directed improvement of taxpayer services through zonal interactions and a feedback system for grievance redress, ordered introduction of automated GST return scrutiny, and required an action plan to expand the taxpayer base via technology; she also requested a root cause analysis of fake billing and Input Tax Credit misuse with technology-based prevention recommendations, and reviewed cadre restructuring, capacity building, promotions, and disciplinary processes.

Logistics Policy and infrastructure reforms boost national logistics efficiency, improving multimodal connectivity and supply chain visibility.
India's rise in the Logistics Performance Index is attributed to integrated planning and digitisation that improve logistics efficiency. The PM GatiShakti Master Plan aligns Central and State infrastructure through a GIS-based platform to enhance first- and last-mile connectivity and inter-agency data sharing. The National Logistics Policy focuses on upgrading and digitising logistics services, streamlining regulatory processes, promoting multimodal transportation and logistics parks, and reducing cargo dwell time at ports and terminals to lower logistics costs.

Export promotion strengthened through trade agreements and government-backed infrastructure to modernize industry capacity.
Government support and trade facilitation for the gems and jewellery export sector are reinforced through coordinated policy measures, infrastructure investment, and negotiated market access. A government-backed Common Facility Centre at SEEPZ, supervised by the Council and Ministry, is intended to modernize capacity and support small and medium enterprises. The GJEPC, established by the Commerce Ministry and granted autonomous status, functions as the apex export promotion body coordinating outreach, member services, and initiatives aligned with ease-of-doing-business objectives.

Bilateral trade expansion through market access resolution and sectoral cooperation, plus payment system integration for local currency settlements.
The meeting focused on expanding bilateral trade by targeting new products and priority sectors, addressing market access issues and technical barriers-with India noting restrictions on marine, poultry and meat exports-and agreed to resolve these through sustained bilateral discussions. It identified cooperation areas including value added marine products, smartphones, electric vehicles, food processing and pharmaceuticals, explored mutual recognition arrangements in services such as nursing and accounting, and reviewed progress on connecting UPI with PromptPay to enable local currency trade settlements.

Bilateral economic cooperation promoting trade and investment in infrastructure, renewable energy and technology through strategic partnerships.
Bilateral economic cooperation emphasized aligning India's Make in India and Italy's Made in Italy initiatives to promote trade, investment and technology exchange across manufacturing, space, defence, IT, energy and agriculture; India's infrastructure plans including the National Infrastructure Pipeline and PM GatiShakti were advanced as investment opportunities in ports, airports, freight corridors and high speed rail; renewable energy expansion and sustainable mobility were highlighted as priority domains for project cooperation, technology transfer and private sector engagement, supported by cultural and people to people links to deepen the strategic partnership.

Exports growth led by services expands surplus while merchandise imports outpace exports, widening the overall trade deficit.
Combined merchandise and services exports expanded notably, led by a strong rise in services exports that generated a larger services surplus while merchandise imports outpaced merchandise exports, widening the merchandise and overall trade deficits. Sectoral results were mixed: electronic goods and several agricultural/processed food categories recorded strong export growth, whereas textiles and certain plastics segments declined. Non petroleum and non gems & jewellery exports held broadly steady for the year but imports rose. Shifts in import sourcing reduced reliance on a principal partner, and some data remain provisional pending RBI revisions.

Strategic partnership elevated; ministers committed to pursuing a balanced free trade agreement and joint working groups on key sectors.
Elevation to a Strategic Partnership anchors commitments to deepen trade and economic cooperation, pursue a free, balanced and fair Free Trade Agreement, convene the Joint Commission on Economic Cooperation to follow up on negotiations, and establish a Joint Working Group for strategic sectors including space, technology, defence and agriculture.

Controlled substances licensing becomes faceless and contactless, enabling a unified portal for streamlined compliance and trade.
A unified digital portal centralizes licensing and authorizations for narcotic and controlled substances-import, export, no-objection certificates, manufacturing licenses and quota allocations-on a faceless, contactless, round-the-clock platform. Integrated with government databases and cloud services, it aims to streamline processing, enhance transparency and accountability, support secure transactions and communications, and balance availability of essential medicines with regulatory compliance under the NDPS Act and related international obligations.

Monetary policy pause signals assessment of cumulative tightening while remaining ready to tighten further if warranted.
The Reserve Bank signalled a pause, not a pivot, pausing rate hikes to assess the cumulative impact of prior tightening while remaining ready to act further; it prioritises price stability and progressive alignment of inflation toward the 4% target, manages liquidity through a multi year withdrawal framework with operations shifting toward repo, and maintains supervisory emphasis on multi scenario stress testing, uniform prudential requirements, provisioning guidance, and measured steps on payments reform including UPI operable pre sanctioned credit lines and rupee internationalisation.

Monetary policy pause: repo rate held steady while focus remains on withdrawal of accommodation and financial stability.
The Monetary Policy Committee kept the policy repo rate unchanged and maintained a stance focused on withdrawal of accommodation, ready to act if warranted, citing resilient growth, elevated inflation and global financial volatility. The statement underscores strengthened macro- and micro-prudential supervision, agile liquidity management through two-way operations, and measures to ensure orderly government borrowing and exchange rate stability. Concurrently, operational reforms and consumer-protection initiatives were announced, including onshore INR non-deliverable derivative access for residents via IFSC Banking Units, a centralised regulatory portal (PRAVAAH), a unified search portal for unclaimed deposits, enhanced grievance redressal for credit information, and UPI-enabled pre-sanctioned credit lines.

Public procurement reform via a digital marketplace enhances transparency, efficiency and supplier onboarding while realising government savings.
Government procurement is digitalised via the Government e Marketplace (GeM), an inclusive, efficient and transparent public procurement platform that enables multiple procurement modes, integrates authentication through domain databases for contactless, paperless and cashless transactions, and implements automated market adjustments and end-to-end digital processes. GeM provides stakeholder-driven functionalities-such as Push Button Procurement, Single Packet Bidding, Annual Procurement Plan and AI/ML decision support-to reduce cycle times, foster competition, ensure timely payments, realise savings and enhance overall procurement quality and ease of doing business.

Foreign Trade Policy 2023 introduces amnesty, e commerce facilitation, merchanting trade provisions and streamlined export schemes.
Foreign Trade Policy 2023 establishes four operational pillars-incentive to remission, export promotion through collaboration, ease of doing business via automation, and focus on emerging areas-and reengineers implementation of key schemes including EPCG and Advance Authorization through rule based IT systems, expanded district and town export initiatives, facilitation for e commerce and merchanting trade, consolidated SCOMET controls, and a limited one time Amnesty Scheme to regularise export obligation defaults.