Stronger policy ailgnment needed to unclock India's digital export potential: Industry leaders

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], April 18 : Industry leaders and exporters have called for stronger policy alignment and smoother implementation to unlock India's fast-growing e-commerce export potential, flagging gaps in compliance, finance, and logistics at a roundtable held in Mumbai.

The roundtable, hosted by the India SME Forum (ISF), brought together over 70 MSME (Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises) exporters, policymakers, and industry stakeholders, who highlighted that while momentum in digital exports is strong, last-mile execution challenges continue to hold back growth.

"While policy intent has been strong, today's discussion highlighted the need for greater alignment and consistency in implementation," said Vinod Kumar, President, India SME Forum. "We believe that with the right regulatory support and ecosystem coordination, India can unlock a multi-billion dollar digital export opportunity driven by its small businesses."

Participants noted that e-commerce exports are increasingly becoming a key growth driver, with over 2,00,000 Indian exporters using platforms like Amazon Global Selling to reach customers in more than 200 countries.

"We are seeing strong momentum in e-commerce exports from India, with over 200,000 exporters reaching customers across 200+ countries through Amazon Global Selling," said Srinidhi Kalvapudi, Head, Amazon Global Selling, India.

However, exporters flagged several persistent bottlenecks, including inconsistent implementation of export payment frameworks, compliance complexity, limited access to affordable credit, and high costs related to returns and reverse logistics.

"The foundation is in place, but the next phase of growth will depend on simplifying compliance, improving access to finance, and enabling sellers to build global brands," Kalvapudi added.

Industry stakeholders also pointed to a gap between policy intent and on-ground execution, saying uneven implementation across institutions continues to impact exporters.

"E-commerce exports represent one of the most powerful opportunities for India's MSMEs to access global markets and build international brands," Kumar said, adding that better coordination between regulators and industry is critical to scaling this opportunity.

The forum emphasised the need for a dedicated e-commerce export policy, greater digitisation and standardisation of compliance processes, and improved logistics infrastructure to support MSME exporters.

"Continued collaboration between industry and policymakers will be key to unlocking this opportunity at scale," Kalvapudi said.

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