NEW DELHI: India will need to address structural challenges, including high trade costs, regulatory complexity, infrastructure gaps and barriers to deeper global integration, to sustain strong economic growth and achieve the Viksit Bharat vision of becoming a developed country by 2047, the World Trade Organisation (WTO) said on Tuesday.
In its quinquennial and eighth Trade Policy Review of India, the WTO secretariat said real gross domestic product (GDP) growth is forecast to range between 6.8 per cent and 7.2 per cent in FY2027-28, continuing the trend of strong growth posted during the review period, in which India was the fastest-growing G20 economy.
“To attain high-income economy status by 2047, India will need to sustain real GDP growth of approximately 8 per cent annually,” the report said.
The WTO secretariat said India aims to increase its share of global merchandise exports from about 1.8 per cent in 2024 to around 10 per cent by 2047. “As India seeks to expand its role in global trade, diversify exports and meet its long-term development objectives, the balance between self-reliance and openness, as well as its engagement in the multilateral trading system and its reform, will remain key determinants of its future growth and resilience,” it added.
The Indian government, in its prepared report, said India’s trade policy will remain firmly aligned with its broader reform agenda, deepening integration with the global economy while advancing a strengthened and equitable rules-based multilateral trading system. “As India pursues its ‘Viksit Bharat 2047’ vision, aiming for developed-nation status amid complex digital, green and demographic transitions, unimpeded access to global markets, critical minerals and high-end technology remains a non-negotiable imperative,” it added.
The report said India believes that continued commitment to WTO rules is necessary for global trade. “India aspires to safeguard the development priorities and legitimate policy space of the Global South, while advancing towards its long-term objective of attaining high middle-income status by 2047, the centenary year of its independence,” it added.
The WTO secretariat said India’s simple average applied most-favoured nation (MFN) tariff rate, which is internationally comparable, stood at 15.8 per cent, against 14.3 per cent in FY2020-21, as per its earlier Trade Policy Review report released in 2021.
Applied MFN tariffs on imported goods consist of the Basic Customs Duty (BCD) and additional levies, namely the Agriculture Infrastructure and Development Cess (AIDC), Health Cess and Social Welfare Surcharge (SWS).
However, the report said India’s average applied BCD tariff rate (excluding ad valorem equivalent) decreased to 13.6 per cent in FY2025-26 from 14.3 per cent in FY2020-21.
“A significant proportion — 77 per cent of all tariff lines — are clustered around four main rates — 7.5 per cent, 10 per cent, 20 per cent and 30 per cent. Tariffs above 100 per cent are applied to 0.7 per cent of all BCD tariff lines, primarily affecting alcoholic beverages, tea, nuts, and beet and cane sugar. Duty-free lines account for just over 3 per cent of the total tariff lines,” the report said.
At the sectoral level, agricultural products (WTO definition) faced relatively higher BCD tariffs than non-agricultural products, averaging 32.8 per cent and 11.1 per cent, respectively. “At the product level, the highest BCD import duties are levied on coffee, tea and spices — at 55.9 per cent (primarily tea in India’s case) — followed by sugar at 47 per cent and beverages at 44 per cent,” it said.
Source: Business Standard
India Targets 10 Per Cent Share In Goods Exports By 2047
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Jul 22, 2026
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