Goyal proposes integrated Commerce and Industry offices in major cities

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal outlined plans for integrated offices in major cities and a network of 1,000 trained personnel to support exporters. He also highlighted the Trade Connect platform and ongoing measures to simplify trade processes

New Delhi: Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Tuesday said that instead of establishing separate offices of every department in every location, integrated Commerce and Industry offices are envisaged in major cities to provide businesses with a common point of access to multiple departments and agencies.

The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) organised a stakeholder workshop on Ease of Doing Business, Free Trade Agreement opportunities and ongoing trade-related reforms here.

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During the interaction, Goyal outlined the government’s approach to strengthening export facilitation through physical and digital mechanisms.

The roller chain and industrial components manufacturing sector highlighted the positive impact of recent policy interventions in strengthening domestic manufacturing.

The industry reported that measures including Quality Control Orders (QCOs), Minimum Import Price (MIP) provisions and higher import duties have supported significant growth in the sector, contributing to a 15-fold expansion, fresh investments of approximately Rs 500 crore and the generation of around 5,000 new jobs.

The industry appreciated these interventions for supporting domestic manufacturing capacity, encouraging investment and creating employment opportunities.

Goyal also announced a proposed network of approximately 1,000 trained local personnel, with knowledge of regional languages, to support exporters and prospective exporters at the district and State levels.

These personnel would be trained and subsequently deployed to provide handholding support to businesses, including through industry chambers and regional associations.

Goyal also informed participants about the Trade Connect platform being developed to provide exporters with product-wise and HSN-code-wise information, including destination-country tariffs, FTA opportunities and procedures for availing FTA benefits.

The platform is also envisaged to use digital and AI-enabled tools to help businesses identify potential export opportunities and infrastructure gaps.

A dedicated session on recent FTAs and trade facilitation reforms provided industry with an overview of opportunities and obligations arising from India’s trade agreements. The session also covered ongoing measures relating to digitalisation, documentation and simplification of trade-related processes and procedures.

Industry representatives highlighted the need for greater interoperability between government systems and foreign trade platforms, including digital transmission and verification of Certificates of Origin under FTAs.