New Delhi, June 25 -- India's merchandise exports grew by a significant 39% from $317.5 billion in 2014 to $441.7 billion in 2024. This rise in exports testifies to India's ambition of positioning itself as a global manufacturing and export powerhouse. Flagship government schemes, such as production-linked incentives (PLI), Make in India and the Phased Manufacturing Programme have played a vital role in India's export thrust.

The 'trading across borders' indicator from the World Bank's 2020 Doing Business data-set showed that exporting from India took significant time and money. On average, border procedures alone took 52 hours and $212 per container. Export documentation consumed 12 hours and $58. Importing took even more-with around 65...