Examine how domestic reforms such as GST and digital trade facilitation have contributed to India's export performance.

India's total exports of merchandise and services touched a record USD 863.1 billion in 2025-26, up from USD 676.5 billion in 2021-22 [1]. At its 8th WTO Trade Policy Review (21 and 23 July 2026), members linked this resilience largely to India's behind-the-border reforms rather than to external demand alone [2].

GST: a unified market lowering export costs

• Zero-rating of exports with refund of input taxes, plus a continuous input tax credit chain, removed the earlier cascading of central and state levies embedded in export prices.
• Dismantling of inter-state check-posts and the e-way bill system cut truck turnaround and logistics costs — critical for time-sensitive value chains.
• One national market improved scale economies for MSME suppliers feeding exporters; GST featured among the structural reforms examined for the review period [3].

Digital trade facilitation: cheaper, faster border clearance

• Faceless assessment, risk-based clearance and the ICEGATE/single-window interface reduced cargo dwell time and discretionary contact, operationalising India's WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement commitments.
• Digital Public Infrastructure (UPI, ONDC) widened digital payments and market access; WTO members specifically appreciated India's DPI and customs and trade facilitation modernisation [1].
• Digitally delivered services exports — IT, GCCs, professional services — became a major growth engine, aided by this digital backbone [1].

Contribution is real but partial

• GST refund delays and inverted duty structures still strain MSME working capital.
• Gains remain uneven across sectors; logistics, quality-infrastructure and NTM compliance gaps persist, and India received 1,094 written questions from 44 members at the review, reflecting continuing transparency expectations [1].

Domestic reform has thus shifted India's export competitiveness from incentive-dependence toward systemic cost reduction. Sustaining it requires faster refunds, a truly seamless single window, deeper logistics investment, and leveraging new market access through FTAs — consistent with the rules-based, development-oriented multilateral system India reaffirmed at Geneva [1].