India to seek better FTA deals for exporters: top official

India is discussing with key trading partners to expand preferential duties under free trade agreements (FTAs) as efforts are being made for exporters to benefit from such pacts, according to commerce secretary Anup Wadhawan.

FTAs are being under-utilised by exporters, said the secretary in addressing the International Engineering Sourcing Show last week in Chennai.

Urging exporters to use the tariff preferences offered by FTAs to enhance market presence globally, Wadhawan said the government is in the process of further streamlining procedures for exporters to avail such benefits.

Engineering Export Promotion Council (EEPC) India executive director Suranjan Gupta also said India has generally not used FTAs much except for the iron and steel sector.

India has such agreements with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), South Korea, Japan, Malaysia, Chile and Singapore.

Reasons behind underutilisation of FTAs may be because most favoured nation (MFN) duties in some countries are low and the trade agreement may not be according to a very significant benefit, he said. There may be transaction costs involved in accessing that benefit as well, a news agency report quoted the secretary as saying.

Wadhawan said the commerce ministry will engage with the industry to understand the constraints they face both domestic and international and try to address them.

The show, organised by EEPC India with support from the commerce ministry and the department of heavy industry is India's largest display of engineering products and solutions with around 400 exhibitors, 500 overseas buyers and 10,000 trade visitors participating in the show from March 14 to 16.