Export-Import Management

Export-Import Management is a comprehensive, authentic and thoroughly up-to-date textbook that maps the entire canvas of India's foreign trade—from the basic meaning of exports and imports to Incoterms 2020, the Foreign Trade Policy 2023, export finance, the export-promotion and remission schemes that reduce an exporter's cost burden, the digital customs ecosystem, and the competitiveness frameworks that now shape India's trade ambitions. Written primarily for university students yet genuinely useful to practitioners, it simplifies the technical world of foreign trade in simple, systematic and student-friendly language, without diluting academic rigour.

The book's governing idea is stated on its very first page: export-import management is not merely buying from abroad or selling to foreign markets, but 'a systematic process that connects business decisions, government policy, logistics, finance, documentation and international market opportunities.' Building on the scholarly definition of Justin Paul—the 'planning, organising, coordinating and controlling [of] export and import efforts'— the authors treat the subject as an end-to-end system and lay it out in the exact sequence in which a real export-import transaction unfolds: a firm decides what to sell and to whom, meets the legal formalities, agrees commercial terms under the right Incoterm, arranges finance, prepares documents, clears customs digitally, claims its export benefits, and finally works to become globally competitive.

What sets the book apart is how current it is. It is built on the Foreign Trade Policy 2023 (the open-ended 'rolling' policy effective 1st April 2023) and Incoterms 2020, and it consistently reaches into 2025–2026 developments—the extension of Duty Drawback, RoDTEP and RoSCTL to postal-mode exports (January 2026), e-Commerce Export Hubs (2025), the mandatory electronic filing of non-preferential Certificates of Origin (from 1st January 2025), and NITI Aayog's Export Preparedness Index 2024, released on 14th January 2026. That forward-looking orientation extends to the themes now central to India's trade story: Make in India, export competitiveness, emerging export entrepreneurs, and dedicated policy support for micro exporters.

The book has been specially written for undergraduate students of commerce and management and is strictly aligned to the University of Delhi syllabus for the Discipline Specific Elective (DSE) course on Export-Import Management—DSE-5.6 for B.Com. (Hons.) and DSE-6.8 for B.Com. (Programme). Because the subject and its treatment are common to most Indian university curricula, it is equally suitable for students at other universities across India following comparable courses. Beyond that core audience, its clear, procedure-first treatment makes it valuable to:

• Postgraduate, MBA and Other Management/Commerce Learners wherever export-import management, international trade procedure or foreign trade policy forms part of the curriculum
• Aspiring and Practising Exporters and Importers who need a practical grounding in procedure, documentation, finance, incentives and compliance
• Start-ups, MSMEs, E-Commerce Exporters, Artisans and Micro Exporters entering global markets, for whom the book explicitly explains handholding schemes (e.g., Niryat Bandhu), self-certification (REX), remission benefits and ECGC's Micro Exporters Policy
• Teachers, Trainers and Professionals wanting a concise, current reference on India's export-import framework and its digital customs systems (ICEGATE, ICES, e-Sanchit, SWIFT, RMS, Faceless Assessment)

The Present Publication is the 1st Edition, authored by Prof. Gajendra Singh, Prof. K.M. Bansal & Dr Ekta Singh, with the following noteworthy features:

• [Fully Syllabus-aligned] Strictly based on the University of Delhi DSE-5.6 (B.Com. Hons.) and DSE-6.8 (B.Com.) syllabus, and readily adaptable to comparable courses elsewhere
• [Simple, Systematic, Student-friendly] Technical concepts are explained in plain language and in a deliberate, logical sequence, with definitions, worked examples and memory hooks (e.g., 'D/P = pay first, get documents; D/A = accept now, pay later')
• [Truly End-to-end] One volume spans Foreign Trade Policy, legal formalities, Incoterms 2020, the full export and import procedures, documentation, export finance, promotion/remission schemes, organisational support, customs law and export competitiveness
• [Current on Policy] Built on FTP 2023 and Incoterms 2020, covering deemed exports, Rules of Origin, the shift 'from incentives to remission,' Rupee trade settlement, Towns of Export Excellence, and revised Status Holder thresholds.
• [Digital-first Customs] A dedicated treatment of ICEGATE, ICES, e-Sanchit, contactless/faceless customs, RMS and SWIFT, alongside the statutory backbone (Customs Act 1962; Customs Tariff Act 1975)
• [Genuinely 2025–2026 Fresh] Incorporates postal-mode Drawback/RoDTEP/RoSCTL (Jan 2026), e-Commerce Export Hubs (2025), mandatory e-filing of non-preferential CoO (Jan 2025), and the Export Preparedness Index 2024 (released 14th January 2026), including its four pillars, 13 sub-pillars, 70 indicators and latest state rankings
• [India-centric Worked Examples] Every Incoterm, scheme and finance concept is illustrated with named (illustrative) Indian firms, real ports (Nhava Sheva, Mundra, Chennai) and real trade lanes (Jeddah, Rotterdam, Hamburg, Jebel Ali)
• [Exam-ready Pedagogy] Every chapter carries Learning Objectives, a point-wise Summary, and a 'Test Your Knowledge' block of self-assessment (long-answer) questions, short notes and multiple-choice questions with a 'Correct Option and Hint' answer key—roughly 140 MCQs across the book—plus dozens of comparison tables and diagrams

The book covers the complete lifecycle of an export-import transaction and the institutional ecosystem that supports it:

• Foundations of Foreign Trade
• The meaning, features, objectives and significance of export-import management; India's export-import system and its 14-body institutional framework (DGFT, CBIC, RBI, ECGC, EXIM Bank, EPCs, Commodity Boards, EIC, DGTR and more); the seven categories of deemed exports under FTP 2023; a structured treatment of ten trade risks (buyer, country, currency, transport, quality, documentation, customs, legal, payment-realisation and market risk); and the pre-shipment/shipment/post-shipment processing of an export order
• Legal and Commercial Groundwork
• The ten legal formalities to start foreign trade (business form, PAN, current account with an AD bank, IEC from DGFT, RCMC, GST/LUT as zero-rated supply, FEMA 1999 compliance, ECGC cover, product licences, ICEGATE registration); a centre-stage treatment of Incoterms 2020 (ICC origin, the 11 rules, E/F/C/D groups, the seven 'any-mode' versus four 'sea/waterway' terms, and the key traps—CIF/CIP require seller-arranged insurance, DPU is the only term where the seller unloads, DDP is maximum seller responsibility); and Rules of Origin and Certificates of Origin (preferential vs non-preferential), including India's DGFT Common Digital Platform for CoOs
• Foreign Trade Policy
• The meaning, five-phase evolution, legal basis (FTDR Act 1992, Secs. 3, 5, 6) and components of FTP: the FTP document, the Handbook of Procedures (with SION), and ITC(HS) classification (Schedule 1 for imports, Schedule 2 for exports); a chapter-by-chapter tour of FTP 2023's 11 chapters; and its eight headline provisions—SCOMET controls, Rupee trade settlement via Special Rupee Vostro Accounts, Towns of Export Excellence (four new, 43 in total), rationalised Status Holder thresholds, green-tech EPCG relief, automation, e-commerce exports (courier limit raised from ₹5 lakh to ₹10 lakh) and a one-time amnesty scheme
• Procedure and Documentation
• The four-stage export procedure and four-stage import procedure (with the pivotal customs milestones—Shipping Bill and Let Export Order under the Customs Act; Bill of Entry and Out of Charge for imports; landed-cost computation); export/import through post (India Post, Dak Ghar Niryat Kendras) and courier (Courier Shipping Bills III/IV/V); e-Commerce Export Hubs; and a full documentation module that classifies documents by goods, shipment/customs and payment, explaining the commercial invoice, packing list, Certificate of Origin, Mate's Receipt, Bill of Lading (its three functions), Airway Bill, Shipping Bill, Bill of Entry, Letter of Credit, Bill of Exchange and the electronic eBRC, with strong emphasis on cross-document consistency and digital documentation platforms
• Export Finance
• The meaning, features and sources of export finance (commercial banks, EXIM Bank under its 1981 Act, RBI's regulatory role, and ECGC credit-risk cover); classification by time period and by stage of the export cycle; and a detailed treatment of pre-shipment finance (packing credit, PCFC) and post-shipment finance (bill negotiation/discounting, advances against incentives, and factoring/forfaiting), each with purposes, documents and repayment mechanics
• Export Promotion and Organisational Support
• The full suite of schemes with a clear current-vs-legacy demarcation: Niryat Bandhu (handholding), REX (origin self-certification), Duty Drawback (Customs Act Secs. 74/75/75A/76), RoDTEP, RoSCTL (apparel/garments/made-ups, with its latest extension), EPCG (zero-duty capital goods against a 6× export obligation over 6 years), the discontinued legacy MEIS (from 1st Jan 2021) and SEIS (from 1st April 2020), and SCOMET export controls—framed by the book's central thesis of a WTO-compatible shift 'from incentives to remission.' The institutional half maps the Ministry of Commerce & Industry (and its two departments—DoC and DPIIT), DGFT, DGTR (formed on 7th May 2018 by merging DGAD, DGS and DGFT's QR functions; ARTIS portal; anti-dumping, countervailing and safeguard measures), Export Promotion Councils and FIEO, the Commodity Boards (Tea, Coffee, Rubber, Spices, Tobacco—plus the new National Turmeric Board and National Makhana Board of 2025), and the Export Inspection Council and Agencies under the 1963 Act
• Customs Law and Digital Systems
• The sources of customs law (Customs Act 1962; Customs Tariff Act 1975; rules, notifications, circulars; FTP and GST/IGST provisions); CBIC's role under the Ministry of Finance; digital customs administration; ICEGATE (the trade-facing gateway) versus ICES (the back-end processing system), with a dedicated comparison; e-Sanchit ('e-Storage and Computerised Handling of Indirect Tax Documents'); the nine-stage import clearance and seven-stage export clearance procedures (IGM/Entry Inwards, Bill of Entry types, assessment, duty components, Out of Charge; Shipping Bill types, RMS assessment, LEO, EGM, incentive e-scrolls); and the reform systems—RMS, SWIFT and Faceless Assessment
• Make in India and Export Competitiveness
• Make in India (launched 25th September 2014) and the distinction between 'Made in India' and 'Make in India'; the meaning, formula and ten dimensions of export competitiveness; export preparedness and NITI Aayog's Export Preparedness Index—the EPI 2020 four-pillar/weighted framework (Policy 20%, Business Ecosystem 40%, Export Ecosystem 20%, Export Performance 20%) and the latest EPI 2024 (fourth edition; four pillars, 13 sub-pillars, 70 indicators; aligned to the US$1 trillion merchandise-export goal by 2030 and Viksit Bharat @2047), including category-wise state leaders; and dedicated treatments of emerging export entrepreneurs and micro exporters, with strategies and a 'way forward'

The book's structure is defined less by its sequence of topics than by the consistent learning architecture it repeats in every unit and chapter:

• Five Units, Ten Chapters — The material is grouped into five units spanning ten chapters, deliberately sequenced from foundational concepts toward advanced, application-oriented themes so that each unit builds on the one before it
• Units as Thematic Building Blocks — The units act as thematic containers rather than a flat list of topics, so related ideas are studied together instead of in isolation
• Consistent Unit Openers — Each unit begins with an Overview that frames its purpose and a 'Covering' box that previews the chapters ahead
• Identical Chapter Scaffolding — Every chapter is built the same way—a thematic opening quotation, a set of Learning Objectives stating what the reader should be able to do, and clearly numbered sections and sub-sections supported by frequent comparison tables, figures and India-specific worked examples
• Point-wise Chapter Summaries — A concise, point-wise Summary at the end of each chapter consolidates the key takeaways for quick review
• Built-in Self-testing — A 'Test Your Knowledge' section closes each chapter with self-assessment (long-answer) questions, 'short notes' prompts, and multiple-choice questions accompanied by a 'Correct Option and Hint' answer key
• Front-matter Support — A consolidated list of abbreviations at the front helps the reader navigate the subject's many acronyms
• A Uniform Learning Design — The repeated objectives → discussion → tables/figures → summary → self-test pattern in every chapter is the book's structural signature—a predictable path through each topic and a ready-made framework for revision and examination preparation