In a bid to expand the capacity of Indian industry to benefit from the various free trade agreements (FTAs) recently signed or finalised with partners such as Australia, the UK, the UAE, Oman and the EU, the government has initiated a comprehensive assessment of infrastructure requirements in various industrial clusters, including testing facilities and international certification processes.
The Department of Commerce aims to bridge the gap between India’s expanding network of FTAs and the currently low utilisation of the pacts that have already been implemented, is by providing adequate infrastructure to exporters to meet standards and time-lines, a person tracking the development said.
Despite successfully finalising or signing landmark deals with major partners, including Australia, the UAE, Mauritius, the UK, New Zealand, Oman, and the EU, a big concern on their future utilisation remains as Indian exporters have struggled to fully capitalise on preferential market access gained in past FTAs.
FTAs signed in the past such as ones with the ASEAN, Japan and South Korea, or more recent ones such as the UAE, have been sub-optimally used by Indian exporters. Internal government estimates suggest that not just utilisation but utilisation rate of many of these FTAs, too, remains persistently low.
Data sought
“In a direct outreach to industry clusters, the Ministry is now seeking data on specific infrastructure bottlenecks that prevent goods from moving seamlessly from Indian factory floors to international markets,” the source said.
Through communications sent to various export promotion councils, the Department of Commerce has requested members to identify critical needs in areas such as specialised testing laboratories, international certification centers, logistics hubs, and Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions (MICE) facilities.
The initiative acknowledges that while tariff barriers are falling due to FTAs, non-tariff barriers, such as Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) measures and Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), remain a significant hurdle.
“Industry members have been asked to provide not only a list of required facilities but also the estimated expenditure involved in creating such infrastructure. This data will enable the government to consolidate a national requirements list, potentially leading to targeted fiscal support or the establishment of common facility centers under a public-private partnership model,” the source noted.
Published on May 14, 2026