Board of Trade likely to meet next month

The Board of Trade, headed by Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma and comprising leading corporate heads like Wipro chief Azim Premji, is likely to meet next month in the backdrop of eurozone crisis.

The meeting of Board of Trade (BoT), an advisory body to the Commerce Ministry, which was scheduled for June 14 was deferred.

"(It) is going to be held sometime in July," Engineering Export Promotion Council (EEPC) said.

The BoT, which also comprises business chambers and trade bodies like EEPC and Federation of Indian Export Organisations, may discuss sharp erosion in the value of euro against rupee in the wake of debt crisis in the eurozone.

The European crisis came at a time when Indian exports had recovered from the global economic slowdown.

Exports to Europe account for about 23 per cent of the country's total shipments.

The meeting is considered important as it provides a platform for direct interaction between the government and industry.

Wipro Chairman Azim H Premji, SBI Chairman O P Bhatt, Biocon CMD Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, Apollo Tyres CMD Onkar S Kanwar, Hero Honda MD Pawan Munjal, Unitech CMD Ramesh Chandra and Dr Reddy's Lab MD K Satish Reddy are members of the BoT.

The BoT was reconstituted in July last year and its first meeting was held in August, 2009.