Since India opened its markets starting 1990-91, there has been an exponential rise in

the country’s foreign trade exposure – exports have increased more than 16 times and
imports more than 19 times. In FY 2020-21, India’s imports and exports stood at
US$394.43 billion and US$291.80 billion, respectively.

While the global trade slump sprung by the COVID-19 pandemic is expected to outlast
the global crisis following 2008-09, India’s foreign trade statistics offers scope for
optimism. Foreign trade saw a dip of 6.8 percent for India – a better performance than
the forecasted 9.2 percent decline in global trade by the World Trade Organization
(WTO) in October 2020.

Despite the subsequent economic downturn during the pandemic, foreign trade for FY 2020-21
saw expansionary trends developing in certain sectors and destinations owing to unique market
demand and supply chain disruptions. In this article, India Briefing breaks down major trends in
India’s foreign trade in FY 2020-21.
The uncertain global trade situation caused by the pandemic severely hit global
merchandise trade in 2020, and India was not immune to the impact. Exports in FY
2020-21 amounted to a total of US$291.8 billion, declining 6.8 percent. Among the top
exported items – mineral fuels (oil) and gems and precious metals were the two most
exported items, for a combined share of 18 percent.

2021 also predictably witnessed a surge in the performance of the pharmaceutical

industry, whose production accounted for the third most exported category of items for
the financial year. Since last year, India’s pharmaceutical industry has benefited from
new investment flows, partnerships in vaccine production and biotechnology,
and manufacturing incentive (Production-Linked Incentives or PLI) schemes besides
growth in organic demand. 

Imports during FY 2020-21, on the other hand, saw a decline of more than 16 percent,
amounting to US$394 billion. Mineral fuels and precious stones and metals remained
the top imported items, with an increased demand for animal/vegetable fats and oils.

It is worth noting that raw materials and intermediates account for a considerable
proportion of India’s exports, while finished products have an overwhelming presence in
India’s imports basket.

Despite its promising growth, exports alone may not be sufficient to drive growth in the
long run if they continue to be dominated by raw materials and intermediates. It lies in
India’s interest to develop and diversify its manufacturing capacity to utilize its own
abundant raw material and move up the value chain to meet domestic as well as foreign
demand.
Exports to USA continued to dominate with a share of over 17 percent of India’s total
exports. This was followed by China and the UAE, swapping positions, as exports to the
UAE dropped significantly in 2020-21.

For imports in FY2020-21, India’s top three destinations were China, USA, and UAE,
with imports from Switzerland rising to fourth top sourcing destination. Switzerland
accounts for a significant proportion of India’s precious metal imports, led by gold. 
Looking at the region-wise share of exports, the data indicates a steady growth in exports from
15.31 percent in 2014-15 to 19.77 percent in 2020-21 to North America, countered by a decline
in Asia’s share of 48.52 percent in 2014-15 to 46.52 percent in 2020-21.

The past few years have seen a steady decline in Asia’s share in India’s export basket
accompanied by an increase in trade with countries in the west. This is likely because
India is pulling away from trade partnerships in the east and looking to establish new
trade relations in relatively under-tapped markets in western countries.

The Indian government withdrew from the Asia-Pacific Regional Comprehensive

Economic Partnership (RCEP) in November 2019 due to the assessment that Indian
exports were not flourishing to the region despite reduced non-tariff barriers (NTB) as
ASEAN nations and India offer similar labor-intensive products in their export basket.

There has also been a shift in the approach towards global trade as India looks to build
up trade exposure with western countries, a somewhat interesting development
following geopolitical events like the US-China trade war, recent Australia-China trade
tensions, and Brexit. Free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations are currently ongoing or
planned to start in 2021 with the UK, European Union (EU), USA, Australia, and UAE.
Both, the EU and UK are keen to re-establish their credentials as strong trade partners
to India – eyeing its large consumption market and growing disposable incomes besides
wanting to expand sourcing destinations.

India’s foreign trade policy

Once again postponed from October 2021 to March 2022, the next Foreign Trade Policy
(FTP) (following FTP 2015-20) wants to grow India’s annual goods and services exports
to over US$1 trillion by FY 2026-27.

The new FTP is much awaited as it will offer government-supported strategies to cash
in on the expected rebound in global economic growth. Key objectives will include
ensuring India’s greater integration with the global supply chain and reducing logistics
costs.

Incentive schemes
The government remains supportive of incentive schemes. However, it has been
working to revamp existing export schemes so they are in sync with WTO stipulations.

The Service Exports from India Scheme (SEIS) is expected to be revamped with a
wider coverage of businesses, offering exporters duty credit scrips at five to seven
percent of the net foreign exchange earned.

For merchandise exporters, Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported

Products (RoDTEP) is expected to be a part of the new FTP, which offers
reimbursement of central, state, and local taxes/duties. It replaces the previous
Merchandise Export from India Scheme (MEIS), which was not compliant with WTO
rules.

Currently, negotiations are underway to expand the beneficiaries of RoDTEP. This is

because there has been much disappointment among industry and trade stakeholders
(and are key to the country’s export base) who have been left out of the remit of the new
RoDTEP scheme, such as pharmaceutical, steel, and chemical industries; export-
oriented units (including bio-technology parks and electronic hardware technology
parks); Special Economic Zones (SEZ); free trade warehousing zones and custom
bonded warehouses operating under the Manufacturing and Other Operations in
Warehousing Regulations etc.

Another trade promotional scheme is the Export Promotion Capital Goods (EPCG),
which facilitates the import of capital goods for manufacturing to augment the
competitiveness of India’s exports.

Focus on new bilateral trade pacts

Following its withdrawal from the RCEP, India is actively working to forge new trade
partnerships with other countries.

India has launched negotiations with the UAE, aiming to conclude trade talks and sign a
mutually beneficial Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) by March
2022. The CEPA deal aims to improve bilateral economic relations, expand existing
trade and investment relations, and could be a stepping-stone to expanding India’s
trade ties with the UAE’s neighboring Gulf countries – presently dominated by energy
items.

Progress is also being made around an India-EU free trade agreement as negotiations

resumed after an eight-year halt. Political convergence on key regional and global
issues provide background support as formal talks on two key pacts on investment
protection and geographical indications began in September.

Meanwhile, India-UK talks are set to enter a new stage in November, with hopes to
reach an Interim Agreement by March 2022, followed by a Comprehensive Agreement.

While it seems that foreign trade is on path to recovery, COVID-19 has certainly
affected the ambitions of countries worldwide. The pandemic necessitated national
spending to boost exports and foreign trade, but that has stretch government budgets
thin, including India’s.Even prior to the pandemic, India faced massive capital
requirements to improve infrastructure, R&D, logistics, etc. to establish a competitive
advantage over Asian and global rivals. Consequently, it has liberalized market
access and since last year, launched sector-specific incentive (PLI) programs to
develop industrial ecosystems around key product segments.
India’s government has its priorities well laid out and plans to work consistently on
removing long-standing obstacles to boost jobs creation, trade growth in services and
merchandise, and privatization through investment facilitation.

Future focus: Expanding trade flows, diversifying trade items

Experts predicted foreign trade to bounce back in FY 2021-22. Now in Q3 FY 2021-22,
recovery is afoot with exports growing to US$33.1 billion in August, 45 percent
higher than this period last year. Since the beginning of the current financial year,
exports have amounted to an estimated US$163 billion. The target for exports for the
current financial year is set at US$400 billion, and one India is set to achieve.

According to India’s Minister for Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal, last year
[India’s] services export was US$194 billion, and goods was US$290 billion. He said,
as reported in the Economic Times, “We would like both services and goods exports to
compete with each other and together reach the US$2 trillion mark”. He also said the
export target for the textiles sector was US$44 billion. Goyal also brought attention to
the fact that India is trying to diversify its trade portfolio; cotton and cotton-based textiles
dominate Indian exports, but work is underway to shift to man-made fiber and technical
textiles, which now dominate international textiles trade. In a related development, India
recently unveiled its production-linked incentive scheme for these segments in the
textiles sector. This illustrates the government’s broad thinking and linkages between
manufacturing aspirations and trade opportunities.

Meanwhile, to gauge India’s recent positive trade performance despite the pandemic, it
must be noted that a major proportion of the increase in exports is attributed to
shipments of petrol and diesel. Official data showed the export of petroleum products
was up by 139 percent in August to US$4.6 billion – driven by a spike in global prices,
compared to an increase in non-oil exports by 36.6 percent to US$28.6 billion.

Another factor is the economic rebound experienced by major economies from the
beginning of 2021. US-India trade in goods showed an increase of 40 percent in June
this year and is expected to surpass pre-COVID-19 pandemic highs. The Chinese
economy also put behind the downturn in 2020, growing 18.3 percent in the first quarter
of 2021, though slowing down in the second quarter.
With that in mind, it is important to consider the economic health of the entire network of
world trade when evaluating the prospect of any single nation. The steady rebound of
economies worldwide can be interpreted as a strong sign but breakdowns in multilateral
relations, geopolitical rivalries, or supply chain blockages due to COVID shutdowns,
logistics barriers, and steep shipping and container costs indicate some more pain is in
store in the near term for international trade.

Nevertheless, these challenges and threats, particularly those borne out of the
pandemic and trade rivalries, are set to propel India to retain its focus on upgrading its
trade profile and pursuing trade agreements more freely, albeit increasingly on its own
terms.

This internship report gives an overview of the organizational structure of the Aditya Birla
Grasim chemicals limited (India) . Industry profile: Chemical industry is one of the oldest and
fastest-growing industries in India. Which contributes significantly towards the industry and
economic growth of the nation. The chemical industry is the backbone of industrial and
agricultural development. The bulk of chemicals produced in India comprises either upstream
products or intermediaries, which go into a variety of manufacturing applications, paints, and
dyes. The Indian chemical industry’s 12th largest production is growing at an average rate of
12.5%. Over the last fifteen years, the Indian chemicals industry has graduated from
manufacturing principle, the chemical is a highly reputed market to being a mature industry in a
liberalized economy. Until 1991, India has a closed economy with the domestic chemical
industry enjoying protection in the form of different import duties on raw materials and finished
chemical products. Chemicals manufacturing was largely controlled by licensing regulations.
Indian chemicals industry globally and have placed India at the top of peeking order. India is
poised for a new phase of growth in the chemical industry in this millennium. The main thrust in
India’s chemical sector is modernization to improve efficiency by lowering operating costs.
Driving engine for the entire economy, this segment recorded a steady growth as per capita
consumption is well below the world average. Some of the prominent individual chemical
industries are the Indian chemical industry occupies an important position in the country’s
economy. It has been growing at the rate of 12 per annum, which is almost twice the rate of
growth of the GDP. The exports from this sector are over ₹140 billion, which account for almost
14 percent of the export from the manufacturing sector and about 10 percent of the total export
from the country. As suba stantial proportion of these export go to an USA. Europe and other
developed nations an indication that the high quality. Indian products can compete best in the
world. With one of the fastest-growing economics in the world and the second largest emerging
market. India is poised for a new phase of growth of chemical industry in this millennium.
Company profile: Grasim industries limited part of Aditya Birla Group, ranks among India’s
largest private sector companies. Its consolidated net revenue was ₹328 billion (US $6.0 billion)
and consolidated net profit of ₹32 billion (US $472 million) in FY 2017, Grasim industries, the
flagship company of the Aditya Birla Group was incorporated on August 25, 1947. It ranks
among India’s largest private sector companies starting has a textiles manufacturer in 1948.
Grasim businesses comprise viscose staple fiber (VSF). Cement chemicals and textiles its core
businesses are VSF and cement, which contributes to over 90 percent of it’s revenue and
profits. Aditya Birla is an Indian multinational conglomerate named after Aditya Vikram Birla,
headquartered in Aditya Birla Centre Worli Mumbai. It operates in 40 countries with more than
120,000 employees worldwide. This group was founded by Seth Shiv Narayan Birla 1857.
Grasim Industry Limited, Karwar is spread on south west coast of India, surrounding in
evergreen foliage. The unit was established in the year 1975 with an initial investment of ₹60
crores by their groups. It is situated in Binaga, which is 5k.m. away from Karwar and
surrounding

by an area of 260 acres of land in which 80 acres of land is for the company and on remaining
land, they have done colony for the working people of the company. The first foray into the
manufacture of chemicals was made when captive Caustic Soda and Chlorine plantwide set up
at unit Ballapur and Shreegopal to meet the captive needs of these paper plants. These paper
plants gradually grew in size and began to cater to the outside market. Today Grasim Industry is
the largest manufacture and exporter of technical grade Phosphoric Acid (60% market share)
and a dominant player in Caustic Soda, Chlorine, Bromine and Hydrochloric Acid markets.
CHAPTER 2 ORGANIZATION PROFILE 2. Organization profile: 2.1 Back ground Grasim
Industries Limited was incorporated in 1948; Grasim is the largest exporter of Viscose Rayon
Fiber in the country, with exports to over 50 countries. Grasim is headquartered in Nagda,
Madhya Pradesh and also has a plant at Kharach (Kosamba, Gujarat) and Harihar, Davangere
in the state of Karnataka Indo-Thai Synthetics Company Ltd was incorporated in 1969 in
Thailand, started operations in 1970, this was Aditya Birla Group's first foray into international
venture. Aditya Birla Group incorporated P.T. Elegant Textiles in 1973 in Indonesia. Thai Rayon
incorporated in 1974, this was the second company in Thailand, operating in Viscose Rayon
Staple Fiber. Century Textiles Co. Ltd. is taken over by Aditya Birla Group in 1974; this
company is a weaving and dyeing plant manufacturing and exporting variety of synthetic fabrics.
PT Sunrise Bumi Textiles incorporated in 1979, it produces yarn exported over 30 countries in 6
continents. P.T Indo Bharat Rayon incorporated in 1980 produces Viscose Staple Fiber in
Indonesia. Thai
Polyphosphates and Chemicals was started in 1984 in Thailand to produce Sodium
Phosphates, and has merged with Thai Epoxy and Allied Products Company Limited (1992),
Thai Sulphites and Chemicals Company Limited (1995) to form Aditya Birla Chemicals Ltd. This
company supplies to sectors such as food, textiles, electrical and electronics, composites,
leather, plastics and automobiles. PT Indo Liberty Textiles was incorporated in 1995 to
manufacture synthetic spun yarn. In late 1990s and later, the focus was the textile business
following the end of Multi-Fiber Arrangement (MFA). AV Cell Inc., a joint venture between Aditya
Birla Group and Tembec, Canada, established operations in 1998 to produce softwood and
hardwood pulp for the purpose of internal consumption among different units of the Group.
Together, Grasim Industries Ltd. and Tembec, Canada acquired AV Nackawic Inc., which
produces dissolving pulp. Grasim Industries Ltd. supplies Viscose Staple Fiber (VSP). The
Aditya Birla Group's VSF manufacturing plants are in Thailand, Indonesia, India and China. The
Group's VSF business operates through its three companies – Grasim Industries in India, Thai
Rayon Corporation in Thailand and Indo Bharat Rayon in Indonesia, which also oversees its
Chinese operations at Birla Jingwei Fibres, China. In 2003, its Chemical Division was awarded
the "Best of all" Rajiv Gandhi National Quality Award.[5] Grasim sponsored Grasim Mr. India
event from 1994 to 2012 that sent the winner to compete in international events like Mister
International and Mister World. Promoters of Grasim Industry Ltd. ● Kumar Mangalam Birla ●
Rajashree Birla ● D.P. Mandella ● Aditya Kumar Mangalam Birla Huf ● Pilani Investment &
Industries Corporations Ltd.

● P.T. Indo Bharat Rayon ● P.T. Sunrise Bhumi Textiles. ● Trupti Trading & Investment Pvt.
Ltd. Nature of business Grasim Industries Limited is an Indian manufacturing company based in
Mumbai , Maharashtra . It was started in 1948 as a textile manufacturer. Since then Grasim has
diversified into Viscose Staple Fiber (VSF), cement, sponge iron , chemicals and Diversified
Financial Services (NBFC, Asset Management and Life Insurance). The company is a
subsidiary of Aditya Birla Group, which operates over 40 companies in 12 countries on four
continents. Grasim is the world's largest producer of viscose rayon fiber with about 24% market
share. Textile and related products contributes to 15% of the group turnover. Vision , Mission ,
Quality policy Vision To be a leading customer-focused global chemicals business that delivers
best-in-class products and specialist solutions using safe, sustainable and innovative
processes.
Mission
● To deliver superior value to our customers, shareholder