Industry wants open and facilitative import environment to boost exports

The CII asks for policies to increase the country's share in the global merchandise trade by 2025 to 5 per cent from 1.7 per cent and in services export to 7 per cent from 3.5 per ent.

As the Centre plans to increase tariff on some imports, industry body Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) suggests an open and facilitative import environment on the lines of ASEAN, to make India an exporting hub. 

The CII calls for calibrating import duties carefully and asks for policies to increase the country’s share in the global merchandise trade by 2025 to 5 per cent from 1.7 per cent and in services export to 7 per cent from 3.5 per ent.

In its paper on “Reorienting India’s Export Endeavour in the Covid-19 World”, the industry body says there is a need for a calibrated management of the exchange rate to promote exports with strong capital inflows as the 36-currency export weighted real effective exchange rate for India stands at about 116 for June 2020, indicating overvaluation of the rupee. 

It calls for tapping opportunities provided by the current situation such as US-China trade war. CII recommends setting up of an export task force headed by the commerce and industry minister to address all areas of export promotion with coordination of ministries, state governments, other organisations and industry bodies.