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

Q. Examine how domestic reforms such as GST and digital trade facilitation have contributed to India's export performance. (15 marks, 250-350 words)

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].

(~315 words)

Sources: 1. India Concludes Eighth Trade Policy Review at WTO in Geneva — PIB, Ministry of Commerce & Industry — USD 863.1 billion record exports, members' appreciation of DPI and customs/trade facilitation modernisation, 1,094 written questions from 44 members, India's rules-based-system stance 2. Trade Policy Review – India 2026, World Trade Organization — eighth review of India held on 21 and 23 July 2026 3. WTO Secretariat Report on the Trade Policy Review of India, WT/TPR/S/488 (2026) — GST and trade-related reforms examined for the review period