Launched on May 27, the Indian Business Portal is a business-to-business (B2B) platform that connects Indian exporters with overseas buyers. The portal will enable small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), artisans and farmers to identify new markets for their products and increase their global sales.
The Indian Business Portal (https://www.indianbusinessportal.in/) was developed by the Federation of Indian Export Organizations (FIEO) in partnership with GlobalLinker, and is part of the government’s efforts to promote business enterprises in the country and stimulate local export-oriented production (Make in India).
The portal is also an outcome of the Government of India’s emphasis on paperless and automated processing systems that simplify procedures for trade actors, facilitate online data exchange between respective government departments, generate receipts and enable digital payments.
What is the FIEO?
The FIEO represents Indian entrepreneurs and traders in overseas markets and falls under the Ministry of Commerce. It is the supreme body of the Export Promotion Councils (EPCs) recognized by the government.
FIEO provides the interface between Indian traders and central and state governments, financial institutions, ports, railways and surface transport in all activities associated with export trade facilitation.
The Federation directly and indirectly serves the interests of over 200,000 exporters from all sectors of industry and services in India.
Ambition to Accelerate India’s Export Trade Growth
The establishment of the portal is also aligned with the concerted efforts of the Indian government to develop export trade.
India’s overall exports of services and goods reached $676.2 billion in FY 2021-22 as both sectors hit record exports. India’s overall exports amounted to US$526.6 billion and US$497.9 billion in 2019-20 and 2020-21, respectively. India’s merchandise exports reached $421.8 billion, an increase of 44.6% and 34.6% from 2020-21 and 2019-20, respectively.
The main commodity exports that recorded positive growth in FY22 (April 2021-March 2022) compared to FY21 (April 2020-March 2021) are petroleum products (152.1% ), cotton yarns/fabrics/garments, handloom products, etc. (55.1%), other grains (52.2%), gems and jewelry (49.6%), yarns/fabs/artificial make-up, etc. (46.9%), engineered products (45.5%), coffee (49%), electronics (40.5%), manufactured jute including flooring (36.2%), leather and leather goods (32.2%), organic and inorganic chemicals (32.0%), plastics and linoleum (31.1%), marine products (30.0%), ready-to-wear clothing of all textiles (29.9%). %), handicrafts excluding handmade carpets (22.0%) and cereal preparations and various processed items (21.9%).
India has also witnessed growth in merchandise exports to developed countries and new markets. Exports to the United States, United Arab Emirates, Bangladesh, Netherlands, Singapore, Hong Kong, United Kingdom, Belgium and Germany from April 2021 to March 2022 increased by 46.4 %, 66.9%, 64.5%, 90.5%, 26.8%, 7.8%, 28%, 90.4% and 21.1%, respectively, from April 2020 to March 2021. The United States also became India’s largest trading partner in 2021-22, with Indian exports increasing to US$76.11 billion in 2021-22 from US$51.62 billion in 2020-21. . India also enjoys a rare trade surplus in the case of the United States – registering a surplus worth US$32.8 billion in 2021-22.
Main Objectives of the Indian Business Portal
- Digitizing Indian Exporters and Helping Them Become Visible Online
- Promote exports from all Indian states
- Showcasing India’s strength in a wide range of products and services
- Encourage virtual meetings between buyers and sellers
- Provide a trusted network of Indian exporters to overseas buyers
Key Features of Indian Business Portal
Global visibility: FIEO will promote the market globally to help Indian exporters, SMEs and artisans to promote their products and services globally.
Business talks: Facility offered to create meetings of buyers and sellers as well as the possibility for foreign consumers to buy directly from artisans and exporters who offer smaller quantities of their products.
Products with Geographical Indication (GI): Features Indian artisans, farmers and producers dealing with over 370 categories of Indian Geographical Indications (GIs). The portal helped them digitize their catalogs and showcase their unique offerings. According to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the GI sign indicates that the products have a specific geographical origin and possess qualities or a reputation which are due to this origin.
How Indian Business Portal Enables Efficient Sourcing and Procurement from India
The Indian Business Portal serves as an exclusive marketplace for registered exporters in India and provides the opportunity to sell on the platform and buy from Indian exporters. Thus, the partners and commercial actors concerned are integrated within its digital ecosystem.
Portal users can get quotes and list products with relative ease. The search function allows users to search for products, supplier name and ITC-HSN.
Prices shown in a currency other than the INR currency are indicative and intended to represent the possible amount equivalent to the INR price of the product. The actual amount that will be debited from the buyer’s card or bank account may differ from the value of the product mentioned on the website – depending on the exchange rate prevailing at the time of purchase and the general conditions applicable by the buyer’s bank.
For its pilot launch, over 2,000 SMEs joined the Indian Business Portal, listing over 40,000 products and services. There are currently more than 14,000 SMEs registered on the platform.
More than 50 categories of products and services are currently listed on the portal as shown below:
Agriculture
- Agricultural growing media
- animal products
- Beans
Automotive and motors
- Powersports vehicles
- Automotive tools and supplies
- Boats
Beauty and personal care
- Baby care
- hair extension wigs
- makeup tools
Business services
- Advertising
- Agency services
- Business travel services
Chemical products
- Paintings coatings
- Fertilizer
- Basic organic chemicals
Computer hardware and software
- Laptop Accessories
- Monitors
- mouse keyboards
Construction and real estate
Consumer electronics
- Cameras and Photo
- Accessory parts
- Camera Photo Accessories
Electrical Equipment Supplies
- Wires Cables Cable Assemblies
- Wiring accessories
- Active components
Energy
Environment
Fashion accessories and shoes
- Scarves shawls
- Hair accessories
- Accessories ties
Food and drink
- Canned food
- Honey products
- Seafood
Furniture
- antique furniture
- Baby furniture
- bamboo furniture
Gifts and decorations
- Holiday gifts
- Interior decoration
- paper crafts
Material
- Construction materials
- General hardware
- Sanitary and plumbing
Health and medicine
- General assay diagnostic devices
- medical consumable
- Physiotherapy equipment
Home and garden
- Surveillance and smart home electronics
- kitchen tools
- Yard garden and outdoor living items
Household appliances
- Cooking appliances
- Air conditioning devices
- Cleaning devices
Industrial parts and manufacturing services
- Linear motion
- Accessory of machine tools
- engine parts
Lights, LEDs and optoelectronics
- Optoelectronics
- LED exterior lighting
- stage lights
Luggage, bags and cases
- business bags case
- Digital Camera Bags
- handbags messenger bags
Machinery
- Energy mineral equipment
- Engineering construction machinery
- Food drink machines
Measurement and analysis instruments
- Analyzers
- Electrical instruments
- Electronic measuring instruments
mobile electronics
- AR/VR
- smartphones
- Tablets
Minerals and metallurgy
- wire mesh
- Aluminum
- Titanium
Office and school supplies
- Office supplies
- Office supplies
- Office supplies
Packaging and printing
- Tape
- agricultural packaging
- Clothing packaging
Rubber and plastics
- plastic products
- Plastic raw materials
- Rubber products
Security and Protection
- Police military supplies
- CCTV products
- work safety supplies
Serving equipment
- Promotional materials
- Financial equipment
- Restaurant hotel supplies
Shoes and shoe accessories
- dance shoes
- Men’s shoes
- Shoe materials
Smart life electronics
- Security products
- smart home
- LED lighting
Sports and entertainment
- Bike
- Hunt
- Swimming, diving
Sport stuff
- Fitness, running and yoga
- Equestrian sports
Telecommunication
- Communications equipment
- Telephone accessories
Watches, jewelry and glasses
Tools
- Construction tools
- garden tools
- Hand tools
Toys and hobbies
- Figures
- Radio control and command line
- Games
Transportation
- Plane
- Aircraft accessories
- Bike
Books, movies and music
- Musical instruments and equipment
- DVDs and Blu-ray discs
- Movie stock
Collectibles and Art
- Collectibles
- Sports memorabilia, fan shop and sports cards
- Coins and paper money
Commercial and industrial
- Health, laboratory and dental
- CNC, Metallurgy and Manufacturing
- Test, measurement and inspection
Entertainment and leisure services
- Recreational, cultural and sports services
Transportation services
- Shipping services
- Inland river transport
- Air transport services
Communication Services
- Postal and courier services
- Telecommunication services
- Audiovisual services
Construction and related engineering services
- building services
- Installation services
- Other construction and engineering services
Financial services
- All insurance and insurance related services
- Bank and other finance
Health and social services
- Medical and social services
Tourism and travel related services
Education and environmental services
- Educational services
- Environmental services
Distribution and wholesale services
About Us
India Briefing is produced by Dezan Shira & Associates. The firm assists foreign investors across Asia from offices around the world, including Delhi and Mumbai. Readers can write to [email protected] for more support on doing business in India.
We also maintain offices or have alliance partners assisting foreign investors in Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam, Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, Italy, Germanyand in the United States, in addition to practices in Bangladesh and Russia.
