washington india has made significant changes to some of its policies including fdi tariffs and customs procedures since may improving access for us trade and investment to the indian market a federal trade commission has said in a report prepared at the request of the house of representatives committee on ways and means and the senate committee on finance us international trade commission usitc said after narendra modi became prime minister the government has made significant changes to its policies in the key areas of foreign direct investment fdi tariffs and customs procedures localcontent and localisation requirements and standards and technical regulations in the report which was released to the press on thursday usitc said since may 2014 india has raised fdi equity caps in the insurance and defense industries removed the requirement for preinvestment authorisations in several industries and permitted fdi in certain segments of the railway industry these changes have helped to improve indias overall investment regime usitc told the us congress in its investigative report noting that india has made a small number changes in its tariffs and customs procedures the 258page report said new delhi has reduced tariffs on some information communications and telecommunications ictrelated products but increased tariff on several telecommunicationsrelated products some changes have improved us access to the indian market the federal trade body felt india has made changes to policies and practices regarding localcontent requirements and localisation measures the report said adding that the changes expand or propose to expand several localcontent and localisation requirements affecting certain ict electronics and defense and civil aerospace products the changes affect measures that require foreign firms to purchase indian inputs conduct a share of business in india conduct certain business activities in india or submit to indiaspecific testing or registration the report said further the government has expressed a commitment to harmonise indias standards with international standards and to increase engagement with the us