Budget 2026 backs manufacturing, logistics and SEZ reforms to boost shipments, says commerce secretary

The Union Budget 2026-27 has announced a series of measures aimed at strengthening India’s export ecosystem by focusing on manufacturing expansion and trade facilitation, commerce secretary Rajesh Agrawal said on Sunday, PTI reported.He said the Budget includes targeted support for both labour-intensive industries and high-technology sectors, while policy steps on logistics and trade facilitation are expected to reduce compliance burdens and help improve India’s share in global trade.“It is an excellent Budget which provides a strong systemic support to the trade ecosystem by focusing on manufacturing, trade facilitation, by focusing on new areas. It will all help in trade diversification also,” Agrawal told PTI.The secretary said sector-specific announcements covering electronics, IT, pharma, marine products, leather, textiles and semiconductors will further strengthen export competitiveness.In a sector-focused move, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman proposed duty-free imports of certain specified inputs to support leather exports. The measure is aimed at providing relief to leather exporters facing steep US tariffs of around 50 per cent.India’s leather and leather products exports dipped marginally by 0.23 per cent to $3.3 billion during April–December 2025-26, according to official data.The commerce ministry said the planned revival of 200 legacy industrial clusters through infrastructure and technology upgradation is expected to reduce production costs, improve productivity and enhance the competitiveness of traditional export hubs.It added that reforms in Special Economic Zones are designed to improve capacity utilisation, enhance economies of scale and strengthen overall resilience of the SEZ ecosystem while maintaining export orientation.“One-time facilitation for limited Domestic Tariff Area sales at concessional duties and extended tax incentives for cloud and data-centre operations are expected to attract global manufacturers and technology players to SEZs,” the ministry said.The ministry also said removal of the Rs 10 lakh value cap on courier exports will support small exporters and boost e-commerce-driven shipments, while improved processes for handling returned consignments will reduce friction in global business-to-consumer trade.Further, extensions of concessional customs duty regimes for gold and silver dore bars and lab-grown diamond inputs are expected to support domestic refining and value addition.The government has also proposed targeted tax and regulatory reforms for IT and IT-enabled services, including unified classification of IT services, higher safe-harbour thresholds, automated approvals, faster Advance Pricing Agreements and long-term policy certainty, which are expected to enhance India’s attractiveness for Global Capability Centres and international service providers.