Liberalization of trade regime can trigger an aggressive approach towards exports. The removal of QRs is bound to have a positive impact on the economy. This would help Indian economy make great strides towards more globally competitive economy.

Goodbye to the Quota Raj. The liberalization of India's import policy has been an on-going process since India began implementing economic reforms. There has been a remarkable hastening of this policy recently. This has been mainly because of the US, which, through the WTO, has put enormous pressure on India to remove the quantitative restrictions (QRs) that existed on as many as 1,429 items mainly consumer goods. During the last decade, India has drastically reformed its restrictive trade policies and made efforts to open its domestic market to global trade. Yet market access is still restricted by many existing trade barriers. India's agricultural tariff rates are still considered quite high.

However, India tuned itself to the global trend of free trade by announcing an import policy that does away with restrictions on all imports. It lifted restrictions on the importation of 715 categories of foreign goods, marking the demise of the protectionist approach to international trade it has pursued since independence. The removal of these items has opened an exciting menu for consumption as most of the items freed include a whole range of household items including domestic appliances and food items. On the other hand, anxiety is sweeping across the entire spectrum of Indian industry and agricultural sector as all import restrictions of the country have vanished from April 1, 2001. In other words, Indian producers of all these items will have to face global competition in their home market.

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