India’s exports have faced a very challenging period in recent years, on account of developments arising from the global financial crisis of 2008-09, which accentuated after 2013-14, when the world economy experienced a major trade slowdown. Thus, after achieving a turnaround from the initial shock, exports came under immense pressure again in the post 2013-14 period due to accentuation of the global economic and financial crisis in the second phase when countries like China also got adversely affected. However, since then exports have been growing on a secular basis since 2016-17 for almost three years and total exports reached a new peak of more than half a trillion dollars, for the first time.

India’s overall exports (merchandise and services) during last 5 years are given below:

Years	Export (Value in USD Billion)	% Change
2013-14	466.23	--
2014-15	468.46	0.48
2015-16	416.60	-11.07
2016-17	440.05	5.63
2017-18	498.63	13.31
2018-19*	535.86	7.47

Source: DGCI&S & RBI, (*Provisional)

Government has taken following key measures for promotion of exports:

1.  A new Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) 2015-20 was launched on 1^st April 2015. The policy, inter alia, rationalised the earlier export promotion schemes and introduced two new schemes, namely Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS) for improving export of goods and ‘Services Exports from India Scheme (SEIS)’ for increasing exports of services. Duty credit scrips issued under these schemes were made fully transferable.
2. The Mid-term Review of the FTP 2015-20 was undertaken on 5th December, 2017. Incentive rates for labour intensive / MSME sectors were increased by 2% with a financial implication of ₹ 8,450 crore per year.
3. A new Logistics Division was created in the Department of Commerce to coordinate integrated development of the logistics sector.  India’s rankin World Bank’s Logistics Performance Index moved up from 54 in 2014 to 44 in 2018.
4. Interest Equalization Scheme on pre and post shipment rupee export credit was introduced from 1.4.2015 providing interest equalisation at 3% for labour intensive MSME sectors. The rate was increased to 5% for MSME sectors with effect from 2.11.2018 and merchant exporters were covered under the scheme with effect from 2.1.2019.
5. Various measures for improving ease of doing business were taken. India’s rank in World Bank ‘Ease of doing business’ ranking improved from 142 in 2014 to 77 in 2018 with the rank in ‘trading across borders’ moving up from 122 to 80.
6. A new scheme called “Trade Infrastructure for Export Scheme (TIES)” was launched with effect from 1^st April 2017 to address the export infrastructure gaps in the country.
7. A comprehensive “Agriculture Export Policy” was launched on 6th December, 2018 with an aim to double farmers’ income by 2022 and provide an impetus to agricultural exports.
8. A new scheme called “Transport and Marketing Assistance” (TMA) scheme has been launched for mitigating disadvantage of higher cost of transportation for export of specified agriculture products.  
9. A new scheme called Scheme for Rebate of State and Central Taxes and Levies (RoSCTL) covering export of garments and made-ups was notified on 7.3.2019 providing refund of duties/taxes at higher rates.

 This information was given by the Minister of Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal, in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha today.

Export promotion measures expanded through new policy schemes and incentives to boost competitiveness and logistics for exporters. The government deployed policy instruments to support exports, notably the Foreign Trade Policy 2015 20 introducing MEIS and SEIS with transferable duty credit scrips; increased incentives for labour intensive and MSME sectors via a mid term review; an Interest Equalization Scheme covering pre and post shipment rupee export credit and merchant exporters; and complementary measures including a Logistics Division, Trade Infrastructure for Export Scheme, Agriculture Export Policy, Transport and Marketing Assistance, and the RoSCTL for garments and made ups.