Budget 2025: Export promotion mission, Bharat Trade Net in works to boost trade

The proposals for an Export Promotion Mission and digital public infrastructure (DPI) to reduce trade-related costs and compliances come at a time when India's goods exports shrank for the second straight month in December to $38.01 billion, down 0.99% on year.

Called BharatTradeNet (BTN), the DPI will be a unified platform for trade documentation and financing solutions and be part of the India Stack, which includes UPI, Aadhaar, ONDC, and DigiLocker. It aims to eliminate paper-based processes by integrating key stakeholders such as the customs, DGFT, GSTN, banks, and exporters into a unified digital platform.

Recognising exports as the fourth engine of development, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her budget speech said: "BTN will complement the Unified Logistics Interface Platform and be aligned with international practices".


The proposed Export Promotion Mission has an outlay of ₹2,250 crore and will be driven jointly by the ministries of commerce and industry, micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) and finance.

It will facilitate easy access to export credit, cross-border factoring support, and support to MSMEs to tackle non-tariff measures in overseas markets.

"A key question is whether the new provisions will cover only pre-shipment and post-shipment credit, which are short-term working capital loans, or will it extend credit for business expansion and machinery purchases," said Ajay Srivastava, founder of research group Global Trade Research Initiative.

The budget has also proposed support to develop domestic manufacturing capacities for the Indian economy's integration with global supply chains.

A new provision for importers and exporters to voluntarily declare material facts after clearance of goods to incentivise voluntary compliance is put in place.