Developing dedicated e-commerce hubs across the country to boost India’s exports through online channels is expected to be part of the Commerce Ministry’s 100-day priority roadmap for the new government, a senior official stated today.
The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), an arm of the Commerce Ministry, is already working with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Finance Ministry and other stakeholders on various initiatives to promote e-commerce exports, given the huge opportunities in this sector.
“These planned e-commerce hubs can help significantly drive our exports through online mediums,” the official said. “In such hubs, there would be facilities for export clearances, warehousing, customs processing, returns management, labelling, testing and repackaging – creating an entire ecosystem for e-commerce shipments”, as per reports.
According to industry experts, these hubs would essentially function as bonded zones to facilitate both e-commerce exports and imports, while also addressing the vexing issue of product returns which currently account for around 25 per cent of e-commerce trade volumes.
“The private sector will have to come forward to develop and operate these specialised e-commerce hubs, which will be akin to export-oriented units,” said Ajay Sahai, Director General of the Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO).
The urgency around promoting e-commerce exports stems from the sector’s vast growth potential. Global cross-border e-commerce trade was pegged at USD 800 billion in 2023 and is estimated to reach a staggering USD 2 trillion by 2030, as per industry estimates.
However, India currently has a minuscule share of these e-commerce export volumes at just USD 2 billion, compared to China’s USD 350 billion.
Unlocking this potential could provide a major boost in achieving India’s ambitious USD 1 trillion merchandise exports target for 2030.
