The Services Export Promotion Council (SEPC) on Friday said the implementation of the proposed India-UK Free Trade Agreement will help boost the country’s exports of services, especially from the legal, accounting and audit sectors. SEPC President Sunil H Talati said the UK market has huge potential for domestic service sectors such as medical transcription, legal, accounting and auditing.
Negotiations for a trade deal between the countries are in advanced stages and are expected to conclude by the end of this month.
It will take some time for the agreement to be implemented after the negotiations are over. Under this agreement, both countries can cut or eliminate customs duties on the maximum number of goods that can be traded between them.
In addition, norms will be relaxed to promote trade in services. “There is a lot of potential for exporting our services to the UK. The agreement will help boost services exports,” Talati told PTI. He also said that the Council is hopeful to achieve the export target of USD 300 billion for 2022-23 on account of healthy growth in outbound shipments so far.
It was US$ 254 billion in 2021-22.
According to council data, services exports grew to $71 billion during April-June in the current fiscal, from $56.22 billion in the same quarter last year. Talati said he has suggested the commerce ministry to detail support measures for the sector in the new foreign trade policy, which is likely to be released soon, to boost the sector’s growth. It has proposed an alternative scheme to SEIS (Service Export from India Scheme) – DRESS (Duty Exemption on Export of Services Scheme) in the new policy to promote shipments.
Further, he said that there is a need to devise a mechanism by the government to receive data from the unorganized sector. “Many chartered accountants from Gujarat, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh export services to countries like the US. That data is not being captured,” Talati said. He said that the Council is taking steps to promote exports of medical tourism, education and hospitality sectors. “Sectors like IT, auditing and accounting have not been affected due to global uncertainties,” he said, adding that the government should consider reducing GST (goods and services tax) on hotels to 18 per cent. At present, hotel rooms above Rs 7,500 per night attract 18 per cent GST.
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