A Meeting of high-level officials from the Government of India's Ministry of Finance, Central Board of Excise and Customs, Railway Board, Shipping and Airport Authority has discussed ways to expedite the country's clearance process for exports and imports, deciding to conduct a joint exercise headed by the Department of Revenue and the Shipping Ministry, to identify and address delays at every stage. The exercise will monitor the clearance process at the Jawaharlal Nehru Port, Tughlakabad Inland Container Depot, and Mundra Port.

Longer transactions lead to delays and increases costs for traders. The Federation of Indian Export Organizations said reduction in transaction costs would also help boost the country's exports.

The Meeting reviewed ways to further ease the business environment in the country, including promotion of online platforms for trading, and use of paperless transactions for export and import clearances.

Exports in India declined 16.73% to $238.41 billion during April-February period of the current fiscal year, compared to $286.3 billion in the same months of the previous year. Imports fell by 14.74% to $351.8 billion in the 11-month period, leaving a trade deficit of $113.38 billion.

A report by the World Bank noted that it takes an average of 6.2 days and 15.8 days, respectively, to process export and import clearances, while export and import in OECD countries only take 0.8 days and 0.5 days.

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