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Ministry

Ministry of Commerce and Industry

The Ministry of Commerce and Industry is the Government of India's apex department for external trade and industrial policy. Through its Department of Commerce it writes and runs the Foreign Trade Policy, negotiates free-trade agreements and export-promotion measures; through the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade it owns overall industrial policy and foreign direct investment. It is the institution where India's trade strategy — tariffs, FTAs and export targets — is set.

Updated

Headquarters
Vanijya Bhawan, New Delhi
Departments
2 (Commerce; DPIIT)
Total exports FY2024-25
About US$825 billion (goods + services)
Export vision
US$2 trillion by 2030 (Foreign Trade Policy 2023)
Coverage since 194722 recorded events ·100% from official & primary sources
1945–1949: 1 event19501960197019801990–1994: 1 event19901995–1999: 1 event20002010–2014: 1 event20102015–2019: 5 events2020–2024: 8 events20202025–2026: 5 events

Role

The Ministry of Commerce and Industry runs India’s external commerce and its industrial policy through two departments. The Department of Commerce writes the Foreign Trade Policy, negotiates trade agreements at the WTO and bilaterally, administers Special Economic Zones, and directs export promotion through bodies such as the Directorate General of Foreign Trade and the commodity export councils. The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) owns overall industrial policy, facilitates foreign direct investment, and runs the internal-trade, startup and intellectual-property agenda, including the Make in India and Invest India platforms.

It is the seat where trade strategy is set: the tariff lines India offers or protects in a negotiation, the export targets it sets itself, and the industrial priorities behind flagship schemes are decided here, in coordination with the Ministry of Finance on customs and the Ministry of External Affairs on the diplomacy that carries a trade deal.

Desk maintained by IndiaStand editorial cycles. Officeholders are transient; this dossier tracks the institution.

Timeline since 1947

  1. reference

    Separate Commerce and Industry portfolios at independence

    The trade and industry machinery of the state passed to the Government of India as distinct ministries.

  2. reference

    Liberalisation opens trade and investment

    The 1991 reforms dismantled much of the licence-permit regime and opened Indian trade and FDI to the world.

  3. reference

    Ministry of Commerce and Industry re-created

    The Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Industry were merged into a single ministry administered through two departments (Commerce; industrial policy).

    source 1

  4. reference

    Make in India launched as the ministry's flagship manufacturing programme

    The Ministry of Commerce and Industry launched Make in India across 25 sectors, with a stated aim of raising manufacturing to 25% of GDP by 2022 (later restated as 2025). Wikipedia records the manufacturing share instead falling from 16.7% in 2013-14 to 15.9% in 2023-24.

    source 1

  5. reference

    Startup India action plan gives DPIIT a startup-recognition mandate

    The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade began administering Startup India, combining compliance simplification and tax exemptions with a Fund of Funds for Startups under SIDBI sized at Rs 10,000 crore.

    source 1

  6. reference

    India ratifies the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement

    India deposited its acceptance of the Trade Facilitation Agreement on 22 April 2016, committing the Department of Commerce to the agreement's customs and border-procedure disciplines. The agreement had been opened for acceptance on 27 November 2014.

    source 1

  7. reference

    DIPP renamed DPIIT

    The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion became the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, adding internal trade to its mandate.

    source 1

  8. reference

    WTO panel finds India's export-incentive schemes are prohibited subsidies

    The DS541 panel report, circulated 31 October 2019, found the EOU/EHTP/BTP schemes, EPCG, the SEZ scheme, Duty-Free Imports for Exporters and MEIS inconsistent with Articles 3.1(a) and 3.2 of the SCM Agreement. India notified an intention to appeal on 19 November 2019.

    source 1

  9. reference

    India opts out of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership

    After taking part in the RCEP negotiations, India decided not to join the bloc; RCEP members left the invitation open for India to accede at any time. The decision left the ministry's Asia trade strategy resting on bilateral agreements.

    source 1

  10. reference

    PM Gati Shakti national master plan placed under DPIIT

    The PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan for Multi-modal Connectivity was launched on 13 October 2021 with DPIIT as nodal department, creating a digital platform to integrate infrastructure planning across 16 ministries. The Cabinet approved it on 21 October 2021.

    source 1

  11. reference

    India and the UAE sign a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement

    The ministry signed CEPA with the United Arab Emirates, India's first comprehensive trade agreement of the 2020s round. Bilateral trade turnover in calendar 2021 stood at US$68.4 billion, of which India's exports to the UAE were US$25.4 billion.

    source 1

  12. reference

    India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement signed

    ECTA was signed on 2 April 2022 in a virtual ceremony between the Indian and Australian trade ministers, concluding a negotiation track that had been stalled since 2017.

    source 1

  13. reference

    India-Australia ECTA enters into force

    ECTA took effect on 29 December 2022, making it the ministry's first operative bilateral trade agreement with a developed economy in over a decade.

    source 1

  14. reference

    Foreign Trade Policy 2023 takes effect

    The open-ended policy (no fixed end date) set a stated vision of US$2 trillion in goods-and-services exports by 2030 and shifted from incentives toward a remission-based regime.

    source 1

  15. reference

    India settles the WTO export-subsidy dispute by mutually agreed solution

    DS541 was resolved through a mutually agreed solution notified on 13 July 2023: India withdrew its appeal notification and both parties agreed the adverse panel report would not be adopted by the Dispute Settlement Body.

    source 1

  16. reference

    Jan Vishwas Act, piloted by the ministry, decriminalises provisions across 42 Acts

    The Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Bill, introduced by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry in the Lok Sabha on 22 December 2022, amended 42 Acts to convert fines to penalties and remove imprisonment for many technical and procedural contraventions. It passed the Lok Sabha on 27 July 2023 and the Rajya Sabha on 2 August 2023.

    source 1

  17. reference

    India-EFTA Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement signed

    TEPA was signed on 10 March 2024 with Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. The EFTA states pledged US$100 billion of investment in India over 15 years, with a stated aim of about one million jobs.

    source 1

  18. official

    India–UK Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement signed

    The ministry signed CETA with the United Kingdom; the Press Information Bureau states it gives duty-free access to about 99% of India's exports to the UK by tariff line, with bilateral trade put at around US$56 billion.

    source 1

  19. reference

    India-EFTA TEPA enters into force

    TEPA took effect on 1 October 2025, activating the first Indian trade agreement to carry a binding-style investment and jobs commitment from the partner bloc.

    source 1

  20. reference

    India and the UAE agree to double bilateral trade to US$200 billion

    The two governments agreed to double bilateral trade to US$200 billion within six years, building on the 2022 CEPA framework.

    source 1

  21. reference

    India–EU free-trade negotiations concluded

    The European Commission announced conclusion of the India–EU Free Trade Agreement; ratification remained pending.

    source 1

  22. official

    India–US interim trade framework announced

    The two governments announced a framework for an interim agreement. Per the White House, the US removed an additional 25% tariff tied to India's Russian-oil purchases and stated it would lower the reciprocal tariff on India from 25% to 18%.

    source 1

Frequently asked

What is Ministry of Commerce and Industry?
The Ministry of Commerce and Industry is the Government of India's apex department for external trade and industrial policy. Through its Department of Commerce it writes and runs the Foreign Trade Policy, negotiates free-trade agreements and export-promotion measures; through the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade it owns overall industrial policy and foreign direct investment. It is the institution where India's trade strategy — tariffs, FTAs and export targets — is set.
When was Ministry of Commerce and Industry established?
Ministry of Commerce and Industry was established 1999.
What does Ministry of Commerce and Industry do?
Its remit covers Foreign Trade Policy and export promotion (Department of Commerce), Bilateral and multilateral trade negotiations (WTO, FTAs), Special Economic Zones and trade-facilitation infrastructure, Overall industrial policy and FDI (DPIIT), Internal trade, startups and intellectual-property policy (DPIIT).
What is the latest on Ministry of Commerce and Industry?
As of 2026-07-05: India–US interim trade framework announced. The two governments announced a framework for an interim agreement. Per the White House, the US removed an additional 25% tariff tied to India's Russian-oil purchases and stated it would lower the reciprocal tariff on India from 25% to 18%.

Official sources

The government's own pages for this institution — go straight to the primary.

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