Q.Explain India's foreign trade policy reforms since 1991 and the role of the WTO in India's foreign trade.

Since 1991, India has moved from a restrictive trade regime toward a more liberalised one, and WTO membership has shaped this shift further.

India's Foreign Trade Policy (earlier the EXIM Policy) lays down the government's objectives and procedures for regulating and promoting exports and imports. The economic reforms of 1991 (the New Economic Policy of Liberalisation, Privatisation and Globalisation) marked a decisive break from India's earlier, more restrictive and protectionist trade regime.

Key reforms since 1991: (1) EXCHANGE RATE REFORM — the rupee was first devalued and then moved toward a market-determined (largely floating) exchange rate, replacing the earlier fixed/administered rate. (2) TRADE LIBERALISATION — a substantial reduction in import licensing requirements, quantitative restrictions (quotas), and tariff (customs duty) rates, opening the domestic market to greater foreign competition and cheaper imported inputs. (3) RUPEE CONVERTIBILITY — the rupee was made convertible on the current account, so trade-related foreign exchange transactions no longer needed case-by-case government approval. (4) EXPORT PROMOTION — schemes such as duty drawback, concessional pre- and post-shipment export credit, and Export Processing Zones (EPZs) and later Special Economic Zones (SEZs) offering infrastructure and fiscal incentives to exporters. (5) SIMPLIFICATION of the licensing formalities and paperwork earlier required of importers and exporters. …

Students sometimes describe either the 1991 reforms OR the WTO in isolation without connecting the two — the WTO's rules (MFN treatment, tariff reduction commitments, TRIPS) are part of the SAME broader liberalisation story that began with the 1991 reforms, a …