Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Shri Piyush Goyal called for a nationwide Free Trade Agreement (FTA) utilisation drive to expand India's global trade footprint during a National Workshop on "Leveraging FTAs an Outreach Programme" in New Delhi. The initiative aims to maximize benefits from India's nine existing FTAs that span economies representing approximately $60 trillion GDP, providing preferential access to nearly two-thirds of global trade.
India's exports reached about $317 billion during April-July, representing an increase of $36-37 billion over the corresponding period last year. The government has set an ambitious $1 trillion export target for the current year, representing about 16% growth. Minister Goyal emphasized that with upcoming FTAs with Canada, Mexico, Chile, Mercosur, SACU, GCC, Israel, and efforts to review agreements with ASEAN, Korea, and Japan, India could gain access to 75% of global trade at rates lower than competitors.
The outreach program specifically targets reaching every district, MSME, trader, entrepreneur, startup, and woman entrepreneur across all 780 districts. The Minister highlighted that India has secured favorable terms in all nine FTAs, protecting sensitive sectors including farmers, fishermen, MSMEs, workers, pharmaceuticals, textiles, processed agri-foods, and agricultural products while enabling exports in areas of India's strength.
Goyal cited the textile industry example where India previously faced disadvantages against Bangladesh and Vietnam but now secured better rates than competing geographies in developed markets. The Minister outlined several actionable suggestions: states should identify products and clusters benefiting from FTAs; focus on first-time exporters and e-commerce routes; strengthen coordination between Export Promotion Councils and industry associations; establish sector/cluster-wise workshops with district-level facilitation; and ensure fast response timelines for exporter support.
The workshop featured addresses from Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal and ITPO Chairman Jawed Ashraf, highlighting the Export Promotion Mission and Districts as Export Hubs initiative designed for easier access to export credit, simplified compliance, and FTA documentation support. The afternoon session included six regional breakout groups with states and union territories to identify specific export clusters, practical constraints in FTA utilization, and required central government support.