Govt to ease credit access, review quality controls after PM Modi’s meeting with exporters

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s sources have assured exporters that the government will provide all necessary assistance to strengthen India’s position in global trade, as the Center is preparing a series of measures to facilitate access to credit and simplify compliance requirements for exporters and importers, sources told Business Today.

In a meeting held last week, the Prime Minister interacted with exporters from key labour-intensive sectors including garments, leather, gems, jewellery, handicrafts, engineering and seafood. The meeting was attended by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, Cabinet Secretary T V Somanathan, senior officials from the Ministries of Textiles, Commerce and MSMEs, besides heads of various Export Promotion Councils.

According to a senior government source, exporters urged the government to direct banks to be more flexible in providing credit. It has sought relaxed lending standards and greater working capital limits to help it meet global demand and remain competitive despite rising input costs and slowing foreign markets. “Exporters want banks to be more lenient in lending large amounts, especially to high-performing sectors,” the official said.

Prime Minister Modi assured industry representatives that exporters will be fully supported through policy interventions and financial facilities. He stressed the government’s commitment to ensuring Indian exporters remain competitive despite global headwinds, including higher US tariffs on some Indian goods and weak demand in key markets.

In parallel, the government is also working to ease the burden of Quality Control Orders (QCOs) on the industry after several sectors raised concerns about excessive compliance costs and delays in raw material imports. The Ministry of Commerce is reviewing the current framework to restrict quality control processes to final products, rather than intermediate inputs, in order to ensure uninterrupted supply chains and reduce procedural hurdles for exporters and MSMEs.

The government’s goal is to maintain product quality and consumer safety while improving the ease of doing business for export-based industries that rely on imported components, officials said.

India’s share in global trade remains modest at about 2 per cent, including 1.6 per cent in goods exports and 3.3 per cent in services exports. In September, exports increased by 6.74 percent to $36.38 billion, while imports increased by 16.6 percent, which led to the trade deficit widening to $31.15 billion.

During the April-September period, exports grew by 3.02 percent to $220.12 billion, while imports rose by 4.53 percent to $375.11 billion, resulting in a trade deficit of $154.99 billion.