A meeting took place at the Audit Conference Hall in Apratyaksh Kar Bhavan, Lucknow, that was notable not for its ceremony, but for its specificity. FICCI FLO Lucknow sat across the table from senior Customs officials to discuss something practical and long overdue: how to make India’s export systems genuinely accessible to women-led businesses.
The dialogue was led by Chief Commissioner Atul Kumar Rastogi and Commissioner Ranjeet Kumar, whose combined authority over customs facilitation in the region gave the conversation immediate institutional weight. Assistant Commissioner Jagan Mohan Thota contributed operational clarity on procedural pathways, while Swati Verma, FLO’s National Head for Export, brought a cross-chapter understanding of where women entrepreneurs consistently encounter friction in the export process.
The centrepiece proposal to emerge from the meeting was the establishment of a dedicated Special Help Desk for Import/Export and Customs — a structured support mechanism exclusively for FLO Lucknow members navigating trade compliance. For many women entrepreneurs, especially those entering export markets for the first time, procedural uncertainty is the single biggest deterrent. A dedicated help desk directly addresses that Gap.
The meeting also surfaced two further action points: a senior-level session on Customs and Trade Facilitation procedures to build functional knowledge among members, and a structured orientation programme for first-time exporters with end-to-end guidance supported by DGFT. Together, these three proposals form a coherent ecosystem — awareness, guidance, and institutional access — that could meaningfully shift the export participation rate among women-led businesses in Lucknow.
Chairperson Simran Sahni’s presence ensured that the chapter’s voice was heard clearly and that the proposals tabled were specific, feasible, and tied to the real needs of members engaged in or aspiring to enter trade.
Key Takeaways
- Proposal tabled for a dedicated Special Help Desk for Import/Export & Customs exclusively for FLO Lucknow members.
- Strategic alignment established between FLO Lucknow and senior Customs authorities on trade facilitation.
- Plan finalised to organise a senior-level knowledge session on Customs & Trade Facilitation procedures.
- Orientation programme for first-time exporters proposed, with end-to-end DGFT support.
- Women-led businesses and startups are identified as a priority segment for export access and compliance support.
- National FLO Export perspective brought by Swati Verma strengthened the institutional framing of the discussion.
- The meeting demonstrated that policy advocacy works best when it is specific, senior-level, and solution-oriented.
- Export participation among women entrepreneurs requires systemic simplification, not just awareness campaigns.
- Customs authorities expressed openness to structured collaboration — a significant step for future engagement.
- FLO Lucknow positions itself as a serious policy interlocutor, not just a participant, inIndia’s trade facilitation ecosystem.
Impact
The meeting with CCFC and PTFC concluded with shared intent and clearly defined next steps — which, in the context of policy advocacy, is precisely the outcome worth working toward. The involvement of FICCI FLO’s National Head for Export further strengthened the collaboration, bringing both national context and institutional credibility to a locally grounded, action-oriented dialogue.