India launches NIRYAT – National Import-Export Record for Yearly Analysis of Trade. This has been developed as a one-stop platform for stakeholders to access all the information necessary related to India’s foreign trade. The Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi, will also address the gathering on the occasion.
The NIRYAT portal is another step in the country’s journey towards self-reliance: ‘Antmanirbhar Bharat’. In a first for the nation, the ambitious target of exports worth US$ 400 billion was achieved nine days before the deadline in March 2022. This prompted congratulations by the Prime Minister who recognised the efforts of all levels of stakeholders for this success.
The launch of NIRYAT coincides with the inauguration of the new premises of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry: Vanijya Bhawan. Located in the nation’s capital, New Delhi, near the landmark India Gate, Vanijya Bhawan has been designed as a smart building which incorporates the principles of sustainable architecture with a special focus on saving energy. It will serve as an integrated and modern office complex that will be used by the two Departments under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry: the Department of Commerce and the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade.
Indian technology exports are set to reach US$ 150 billion (excluding hardware exports), a growth of about 2% and an addition of approximately US$ 3 billion over FY2020.
- IT services account for a turnover of US$ 81 billion and remain the leader in terms of market share. This segment is slated to continue to be the best performing segment of FY2021, with a year-on-year growth of 2.6%.
- Business Process Management was valued at US$ 34 billion, marking a growth rate of 2.3% year-on-year. Keeping with global needs and trends, this sector is quickly moving to platform solutions offering Business Process as a Service (BPaaS) rather than traditional BPM. The BPaaS segment is poised to grow four times faster than traditional BPM. Some of the drivers for this rapid growth include automation-led services in F&A and HR as well as increased adoption of RPA and analytics.
- ER&D is led by increasing “softwarisation of equipment & devices (software-led products) and cloudification. Bolstered by cloud engineering, services around data monetisation and digital engineering, the segment is predicted to maintain its growth trajectory. Historically, this segment has been recording the fastest growth rate. However, FY2021 has seen a drop in growth rate (a decline of -0.2% year-on-year) and will touch US$31.1 billion
- Software products have seen a significant rise in demand. Collaborative applications, application platforms, security software, system and service management software, content workflow and management applications will lead to a 2% growth of this segment to US$ 3 billion.
With e-commerce being closely linked to trade, OpenGov Asia reported on the development of a framework to identify fake reviews on e-commerce websites. The Department of Consumer Affairs (DoCA) has announced it will develop a framework to identify fake reviews on e-commerce websites. After studying the present mechanisms followed by e-commerce entities in India and the best practices available globally, DoCA will formulate the framework, a press release wrote.
During a recent meeting, DoCA, the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI), and various stakeholders like consumer forums, law universities, trade associations, and consumer rights activists discussed the magnitude and roadmap ahead for fake reviews on websites. Since e-commerce revolves around virtual shopping experiences without the opportunity to physically view or examine the product, consumers heavily rely on product reviews posted on e-commerce platforms.
