India’s Industry Department Secretary, Amardeep Singh Bhatia, addressed ongoing discussions around tariffs at an industry event organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) on Wednesday. Bhatia acknowledged that while the government has been focused on reducing tariffs, there has been consistent pressure from domestic industries to increase tariffs in order to protect them from foreign competition.
Bhatia remarked, “There are pressures from domestic industry to increase tariffs, which we need to consider. We must ask why these requests continue to arise and whether we have been competitive enough.”
He emphasized that significant progress had been made by the government in reducing tariffs. According to Bhatia, the weighted tariff has now decreased substantially and is almost at the world average level. These tariff reductions are part of India’s broader effort to enhance its business environment and integrate more deeply into the global market.
Bhatia’s comments come amid international discussions regarding India’s tariff policies. U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has criticized India in the past for its tariff levels, even labeling the country as a “tariff king.” In response, India is actively pursuing free trade agreements (FTAs) with countries such as the United Kingdom and regional trade blocs like the European Union, where there is strong pressure to further reduce tariffs and increase market access.
Additionally, Bhatia highlighted the improvements in India’s ease of doing business over the last decade, citing the Business Reform Action Plan (BRAP), a collaboration between the central and state governments. This plan has led to the creation of single-window systems at both the state and national levels, aimed at streamlining the regulatory process for businesses.
However, Bhatia acknowledged that there is still room for improvement, particularly in ensuring uniformity across states in implementing business reforms. He called for industry feedback on how these processes can be further optimized.
Bhatia also noted that India has more than 4,000 industrial parks and emphasized the importance of making full use of available land and reclaiming unused areas to further support industrial growth.
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