Economic Survey 2025-26: 'Frequent policy changes at export front disrupt supply chains; markets once lost hard to regain'

Economic Survey 2025-26 highlights how frequent export policy changes disrupt supply chains and hinder market recovery for agricultural products.

The Economic Survey on Thursday (January 29, 2026) said trade policy in agricultural exports is used to meet short-term objectives amid price and production volatility, but frequent policy changes disrupt supply chains, create uncertainty, push foreign buyers elsewhere, and make lost export markets hard to regain.

It said that agricultural exports are influenced by a range of supply-side factors, including food security, processing facilities, infrastructure bottlenecks, and various regulations.

Economic Survey 2025-26 LIVE updates - January 29, 2026

However, given the volatility in domestic prices and production of certain commodities, trade policy has often been employed to achieve short-term domestic objectives, such as managing inflation through product-specific interventions, including ad hoc export bans or the imposition of minimum export prices, it said.

Although these measures, it said, may temporarily stabilise domestic prices, they risk longer-term reputational costs, particularly as India is widely regarded as a source of high-quality agricultural products.

"Frequent policy changes can significantly disrupt export supply chains, create market uncertainty and cause foreign buyers to switch to other sources. Export markets once lost are not easily recovered," it added.