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

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

At a meeting held last week, the Prime Minister interacted with exporters from key labour-intensive sectors including apparel, leather, gems and jewellery, handicrafts, engineering, and seafood. The meeting was attended by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, Cabinet Secretary TV Somanathan, and senior officials from the textiles, commerce, and MSME ministries, along with heads of various export promotion councils.

According to a senior government source, exporters urged the government to direct banks to be more flexible in extending credit. They sought relaxed lending norms and larger working capital limits to help them meet global demand and stay competitive despite rising input costs and slowing external markets. “Exporters want banks to be more lenient in lending large amounts, particularly to high-performing sectors,” the official said.

PM Modi assured industry representatives that exporters will be fully supported through policy interventions and financial facilitation. He emphasised the government’s commitment to ensuring that Indian exporters remain competitive despite global headwinds, including higher US tariffs on certain 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 industry after several sectors raised concerns about excessive compliance costs and delays in imports of raw materials. The Commerce Ministry is reviewing the existing framework to restrict QCOs to finished products, rather than intermediate inputs, in order to ensure uninterrupted supply chains and reduce procedural hurdles for exporters and MSMEs.

Officials said the government’s objective is to maintain product quality and consumer safety while improving the ease of doing business for export-driven industries that rely on imported components.

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

During April to September, exports grew 3.02 per cent to $220.12 billion, while imports rose 4.53 per cent to $375.11 billion, resulting in a trade deficit of $154.99 billion.