Indian business forums on Tuesday welcomed a government plan to forge an ambitious national foreign trade policy which aims to double annual exports to more than $150 billion in the coming years.

The Federation of Indian Export Organisations and other national trade lobbies said the policy, scheduled to be unveiled next month, will help cut red tape and speed up transactions.

"This decision should help exporters to avail of a single-window facility in their export-import matters which will simplify procedures," FIEO president Rafeeque Ahmed said in a statement.

Commerce Minister Kamal Nath on Monday said the new foreign trade policy of his left-leaning government will "encompass" India's existing Export-Import policy to further simplify procedures in a bid to boost Indian exports.

"The present five-year Exim policy which is in force until 2007 will not be negated by the new policy but will rather reinforce it," said Nath, who also holds the industry portfolio.

The Exim policy aims at achieving one per cent of global trade and put the stress mainly on merchandise exports, which passed $60 billion in the last fiscal year ending March 31.

"The national foreign trade policy will lay special emphasis on stepping up non-IT services and farm exports," Nath said, adding it would aim to achieve two per cent of global trade in the coming years.

India's services exports account for an additional 25 billion dollars annually.

Industry chamber PHDCCI also hailed Nath's announcement and said a single-point interface between various government departments and exporters would reduce high transaction costs.

India's balance of trade remains adverse with the trade deficit growing 24.68 per cent last month to $1.914 billion from $1.535 billion in the same period last year.

-- AFP