India’s tryst with trade is as old as civilization itself—a story that stretches from the docks of Lothal to the digital corridors of Bharat Trade Net. At the dawn of the Common Era, India commanded nearly 33% of the world’s GDP, as estimated by economic historian Angus Maddison. This dominance was not accidental. It was built on robust institutions, sophisticated trade governance, and a culture that treated commerce as both an economic and civilizational pursuit.
Today, as India’s total exports reached a record $778.2 billion in FY25, with services exports soaring to $339.2 billion, the parallels between ancient and modern trade are striking. Both eras reflect a commitment to self-reliance combined with global engagement—an equilibrium that remains crucial as India pursues its Viksit Bharat 2047 vision of a $30 trillion economy.
Ancient Trade and Economic Sophistication
India’s trade architecture was remarkably advanced even in antiquity. The Indus Valley Civilization maintained maritime commerce with Mesopotamia as early as 2500 BCE, while later periods saw India emerge as the nodal point of the Silk and Maritime Silk Routes. Ports such as Muziris, Tamralipta, and Lothal connected the subcontinent with Arabia, Rome, and Southeast Asia.
The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, a 1st-century CE maritime manual, described the western Indian coastline in meticulous detail, listing goods, port regulations, and foreign traders. Indian merchants exported spices, fine muslins, gemstones, and ivory, while gold and silver flowed in from Rome to pay for these high-value commodities—so much that Roman senators lamented their empire’s growing trade deficit with India.
The Arthashastra, written during the Mauryan era (4th century BCE), codified trade ethics, quality inspections, and tariffs. Import duties ranged from 4–20% depending on the commodity, while smuggling attracted severe penalties. This tariff system served both fiscal and strategic purposes—encouraging domestic production while ensuring fair competition. The Mauryan state was deeply involved in commerce—owning warehouses, maintaining trade routes, and even issuing trader licenses.
Guilds, Governance, and Global Reach
If the state provided structure, the Shrenis or merchant guilds supplied dynamism. These guilds functioned as autonomous trade bodies, controlling production, enforcing ethical standards, and even operating as banks. Inscriptions from the Gupta period (4th–6th century CE) and South India’s Manigramam guilds show how merchants pooled resources, financed temples, and extended trade credit—centuries before modern corporate finance evolved in Europe.
This decentralized but disciplined trade system made India resilient to geopolitical flux. When Rome declined, Indian merchants shifted focus eastward to Southeast Asia and China. The Chola Empire’s maritime expansion (850–1279 CE) marked a high point—its fleets connecting Nagapattinam and Poompuhar to the Srivijaya and Tang empires. In 1015 CE, a Chola embassy returned from China with 81,800 strings of copper coins, underscoring both scale and profitability.
Modern Trade and Strategic Evolution
Post-independence, India’s trade policy moved from protectionism to pragmatic globalism. The 1991 liberalization dismantled the “License Raj,” reducing tariffs and inviting foreign investment. In FY25, India’s total exports grew by 6.1% year-on-year, led by engineering goods ($109.5 billion), electronics ($38.6 billion), and pharmaceuticals ($30.5 billion).
Meanwhile, services exports—a reflection of India’s intellectual capital—accounted for over 8% of global IT exports, contributing a $188.6 billion surplus. Yet the merchandise trade deficit of $282.8 billion highlights the persistent need to deepen manufacturing competitiveness and value-chain integration.
India’s modern tariff regime reflects the same principle that guided ancient trade: selective protection combined with global outreach. In the early decades post-liberalization, average tariff rates fell from 80% in 1991 to around 13% in 2024, spurring competitiveness. Recent refinements—such as the Finance Bill 2025 exemptions on EV and mobile components—demonstrate a targeted, sector-specific approach to nurturing domestic industries without isolating from global markets.
Lessons from the Past for Viksit Bharat 2047
1. Strategic Autonomy through Diversification
Ancient India’s ability to engage multiple powers—Rome, Persia, and China—without subordination provides a timeless lesson. Modern India’s decision to join the QUAD while staying out of RCEP reflects the same principle: multi-alignment that secures both economic and geopolitical flexibility.
2. Institutional Depth and Quality Governance
The Arthashastra’s focus on price regulation and quality control is echoed in today’s Quality Control Orders (QCOs) and the Directorate General of Foreign Trade’s (DGFT) frameworks. The Shreni system’s cooperative ethos can inspire MSME clusters to adopt shared quality infrastructure and digital trade certification, ensuring reliability and traceability in exports.
3. Maritime and Infrastructure Priority
Just as Chola ports underpinned trade expansion, today’s Sagarmala and PM Gati Shakti projects are critical to reducing logistics costs (currently 13–14% of GDP) to the global benchmark of 8%. India’s 7,500 km coastline is its most underleveraged asset; turning it into a hub for coastal economic zones can replicate the maritime dynamism of antiquity.
4. Adaptive Tariffs and Competitive Reforms
From the Mauryan levies on imported horses to the calibrated tariff rationalization under the Foreign Trade Policy 2025, India’s trade governance demonstrates adaptive pragmatism. Ancient rulers adjusted duties based on strategic needs—encouraging import of war horses or luxury goods when beneficial. Similarly, India today must continue to fine-tune tariffs to boost semiconductors, EVs, and green exports while safeguarding core manufacturing.
5. Cultural Integration and Soft Power
Trade in ancient India was not just economic—it was cultural diplomacy. Alongside spices and textiles, Buddhism, Sanskrit, and Indian art traveled across Asia, cementing India’s influence. Modern India can revive this fusion by linking heritage and commerce—through trade heritage corridors like Lothal and Muziris, integrating artisan exports with global tourism, and building “Brand India” on values of trust and craftsmanship.
The Road Ahead
India’s ambition to achieve $2 trillion in exports by 2030 and become a Viksit Bharat by 2047 rests on translating these civilizational lessons into policy action. This will require three transformations:
Reducing logistics costs via multimodal integration and AI-driven trade analytics.
Expanding MSME participation from the current 1.5% to over 5% through digital platforms like Bharat Trade Net.
Enhancing trade resilience by diversifying markets beyond the US–UAE–China corridor and building redundancy in critical imports like electronics and rare earths.
If ancient India’s trade legacy teaches one thing, it is that economic greatness stems not from abundance but from organization, adaptability, and trust. The Shrenis did not merely sell goods—they built institutions that outlasted empires. Likewise, modern India’s power will flow not only from export numbers but from its ability to institutionalize excellence across value chains.
As the world reconfigures supply chains amid geopolitical realignments, India’s civilizational memory offers both a compass and a mandate. The same ingenuity that once turned monsoon winds into global trade highways can now turn data, digital infrastructure, and demographic strength into engines of growth.
The journey from Silk Routes to Supply Chains is more than history—it is continuity. To build a Viksit Bharat, India must rediscover what it once mastered: a trade system that was ethical yet ambitious, local yet global, and above all, rooted in the conviction that prosperity and purpose can—and must—advance together.
Authored by Rohit Kumar Singh, Ph.D. (Eco), PMP®.
