The government will announce a "pragmatic" Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) on April 18 in a bid to boost exports, Commerce Minister Anand Sharma announced.

Addressing the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) AGM on Wednesday, Mr. Sharma said, "A forward looking pragmatic foreign trade policy will be announced on April 18."

While the commerce minister didn't provide details of the new FTP, an official from the ministry revealed that the new policy would bring more incentives for incremental exports. He added that extension of interest subvention, rationalization of the Export Promotion Capital Goods Scheme, extension of interest subvention, and special incentives for Jammu & Kashmir and green products could also be announced under the scheme.

The official further said that exporters and Special Economic Zones (SEZs) could be awarded greater incentives. It may be noted here that SEZs contribute nearly 30 per cent of India's overall exports.

Mr. Sharma said that he had already held detailed consultations with Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram to outline the package, to be announced as part of the new policy to boost exports.

Economic slowdown, especially in European countries, has led to decline in India's exports over the past year. Sectors like textiles and engineering have been suffering negative growth. During the April-February period of last year, the country's overall exports slipped 4 per cent year-on-year to $265.95 billion.