New Delhi, Jan 15 (PTI) The first e-commerce export hub in the country is expected to be operationalised from March this year, a senior government official said on Wednesday.

The pilot launch of these hubs has been approved for five firms -- logistics aggregator Shiprocket and air cargo handling company Cargo Service Centre in Delhi; DHL and Lexship in Bengaluru; and goGlocal in Mumbai, Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) Santosh Kumar Sarangi said.

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He said the departments of commerce and revenue, along with the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS), are working on formulating a standard operating procedure (SOP) to operationalise these hubs. "We expect the first e-commerce hub operational by March of this year," he told reporters here.

The key features of these hubs would include self-sealing with no customs/BCAS examination at gateway ports; easy reimport policy for returns; and onsite outposts for quality and certifying agencies.

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The move assumes significance as India is looking to tap into the growing export opportunities in this segment.

E-commerce exports have the potential to grow to over USD 100 billion by 2030 and then further to USD 200-250 billion in the coming years.

India's exports through this medium are only about USD 5 billion compared to China's USD 250 billion annually.

Sarangi also said the directorate is working to launch the second phase of the Trade Connect ePlatform.

The phase one was launched in September last year to provide all kinds of information related to exports and imports.

"We are working on launching the phase-2 of this which will have a lot more value added services including trade dispute related issues to be raised here and also trade analytics... trade intelligence reports from overseas missions will land here... trade finance and insurance will also come in this platform," he said.

The DGFT also announced launching of Diamond Imprest Authorisation (DIA) scheme.

"It will be implemented from April 1. The software module for this is under implementation and we will make it functional from the coming financial year," he said.

The scheme allows duty-free import of cut and polished diamonds up to a specified limit with 10 per cent value addition.

It aims to establish India as a hub for diamond processing and value addition.

The Diamond Imprest Licence allows eligible exporters to import cut and polished diamonds, including semi-processed, half-cut, and broken diamonds. Exporters can import diamonds up to 5 per cent of their average turnover from the past three years, with a requirement to add 10 per cent value.

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