{
  "id": 2104116,
  "title": "'India Inc must utilise FTAs, diversify exports'",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/20/india-inc-must-utilise-ftas-diversify-exports",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-08-20T08:36:53.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Economic Times",
    "slug": "the-economic-times",
    "url": "https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/company/corporate-trends/india-inc-should-utilise-ftas-focus-on-value-addition-diversify-export-markets-says-govt-official/articleshow/133369293.cms"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "In a recent manufacturing conclave, Additional Secretary Yashvir Singh of the Department of Commerce emphasized the need for India's industry to make the most of free trade agreements (FTAs), broaden export horizons, and enhance supply chain resilience. Singh asserted that while FTAs represent potential avenues, their realization necessitates concerted efforts from the industry itself. He listed five strategic imperatives: utilizing FTAs to gain market access, attract investment and technology, diversify supply chains, fortify manufacturing ecosystems, and engage in standards development.\n\nSingh underscored the importance of understanding the rules of origin, mapping supply chains to claim preferential tariffs, and accelerating the upward shift of India's export basket, particularly in capital goods. He highlighted the necessity of building supply chain resilience, especially in the face of China's dominance in upstream materials, which could pose a significant risk to global stability. He advocated for investments in critical minerals, API manufacturing, and domestic electronic components to neutralize supply chain vulnerabilities. Additionally, Singh stressed the need for active market diversification, citing the Gulf, Oceania, and East Africa as markets accessible through India's trade pacts with Oman, New Zealand, and Mauritius.\n\nThe convergence of global uncertainties, such as restrictions on critical minerals and technology choke points, has led to the weaponization of trade as a geopolitical tool. Singh warned that this shift could further concentrate manufacturing and critical supply chains in a few countries, intensifying the risk to global economic security. He cited the US Chips Act, the Inflation Reduction Act, and the EU's carbon border adjustment mechanism as examples of western responses aimed at reshaping trade into a more state-driven and politically charged arena. Singh coined the term \"Vyaparik Rashtravad\" to describe this emerging commercial nationalism, where trade instruments serve dual economic and geopolitical purposes.\n\nIndia, according to Singh, presents an opportunity to serve as a trusted partner and resilient manufacturer in the global value chain by offering supply chain sovereignty, transparency, and ethical standards. He attributed this potential to India's democratic institutions, enforceable contracts, advanced digital public infrastructure, a skilled workforce, burgeoning green manufacturing capabilities, and access to a rapidly expanding consumer market. Singh concluded by challenging the nation to transcend the status of \"China plus one\" and instead emerge as the \"India, the trusted partner, the resilient manufacturer, and the next great engine of global growth.\"",
  "summary": null,
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}