Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has called for a nationwide effort to increase the use of India’s Free Trade Agreements (FTAs), urging states, industry bodies and export promotion councils to ensure that preferential market access reaches businesses across the country.
Speaking at a national workshop on leveraging FTAs in New Delhi, Goyal said India’s nine existing FTAs cover economies representing around $60 trillion in GDP and provide preferential access to nearly two-thirds of global trade.
He stressed the need to take FTA-related information and support to individual districts, MSMEs, first-time exporters and smaller businesses. Export promotion councils were asked to communicate the benefits of trade agreements in local languages and simpler formats, while industry associations were encouraged to set export targets and expand outreach.
Goyal also highlighted e-commerce as a lower-barrier route for MSMEs and new exporters to enter international markets. He called for sector- and cluster-level workshops, along with district- and state-level facilitation points to provide faster assistance to exporters.
The minister further urged greater support through the Export Promotion Mission, particularly in areas such as regulatory approvals, sanitary and phytosanitary requirements, technical trade barriers and freight compensation.
The government’s push comes as India seeks to convert its growing network of FTAs into higher export volumes and broader participation by businesses across the country.