The India SME Forum (ISF) hosted a focused seller roundtable in Mumbai, bringing together MSME exporters, policymakers, and industry stakeholders to discuss ways to enable and scale India’s e-commerce export ecosystem. The session featured direct engagement with Srinidhi Kalvapudi from Amazon, alongside participation from more than 70 MSME exporters.
The discussion underscored the growing importance of e-commerce exports as a key driver of India’s next phase of economic growth, while also surfacing on-ground challenges and building momentum for stronger policy and regulatory alignment.
E-commerce exports gaining momentum, but gaps remain
Recent progress in customs processes, payment compliance, and export incentives has reduced friction and lowered costs. While earlier frameworks were not designed for e-commerce, the ecosystem is now significantly more aligned, creating a strong base for scaling toward the $200–300 billion export opportunity. However, key systemic gaps continue to constrain growth.
Key Challenges Highlighted by Exporters
Stakeholders at the roundtable flagged multiple bottlenecks impacting export growth:
- Inconsistent implementation of export payment frameworks (EDPMS) across banks and regions
- Continued compliance complexity and lack of fully digitized processes
- Limited access to affordable working capital and export credit
- High costs and inefficiencies in returns and reverse logistics
- Need for stronger skilling and global brand-building capabilities
Participants also highlighted a clear gap between policy intent and last-mile implementation, with uneven execution across institutions impacting exporter experience on the ground.
Mr. Vinod Kumar, President, India SME Forum, said:“E-commerce exports represent one of the most powerful opportunities for India’s MSMEs to access global markets and build international brands. While policy intent has been strong, today’s discussion highlighted the need for greater alignment and consistency in implementation. We believe that with the right regulatory support and ecosystem coordination, India can unlock a multi-billiondollar digital export opportunity driven by its small businesses.”
Mr. Srinidhi Kalvapudi, Head, Amazon Global Selling, India, added:“We are seeing strong momentum in e-commerce exports from India, with over 200,000 exporters reaching customers across 200+ countries through Amazon Global Selling. MSME clusters such as Panipat, Bhadohi, Moradabad, and Tiruppur are emerging as strong export hubs, showcasing the diversity of India’s manufacturing strengths.” He added, “The foundation is in place, but the next phase of growth will depend on simplifying compliance, improving access to finance, and enabling sellers to build global brands. Continued collaboration between industry and policymakers will be key to unlocking this opportunity at scale.”
To unlock the full potential of e-commerce exports, ISF and industry stakeholders emphasized the need for a dedicated e-commerce export policy, greater standardization and digitization of compliance and payment processes, time-bound implementation of schemes under the Export Promotion Mission, improved access to MSME-focused export finance, stronger public-private collaboration on skilling and market intelligence, and more efficient logistics and returns infrastructure.
ISF will continue to engage with regulators, industry partners, and MSMEs to ensure that the voice of exporters is reflected in policy evolution, enabling India to emerge as a global leader in digital trade.
