ECGC sees 5% jump in export credit policies

State-run Export Credit Guarantee Corporation of India (ECGC) has reported around five per cent jump in the number of policies, even as the country's exports have slid considerably due to the global meltdown.

"We have recorded 13,081 policies as on February 28, 2009, this fiscal as against 12,533 policies in the last fiscal across the country. This shows exporters' growing trust on us. It is significant for us as this rise is against an acute dip in exports," ECGC Jaipur branch Manager PDM Rao said here.

Export credit policy covers risk arising from political and commercial environment and exporters buy credit covers to safeguard their payments against the default of buyers on account of the risk existing in the countries they are exporting to.

The corporation has also witnessed a sharp rise in the payment of claims.

"So far this fiscal, we have cleared claims worth Rs 202 crore in 578 cases, which is 80 per cent more than the last fiscal when the corporation had paid Rs 112.07 crore in 649 cases in the country," he said.

India's total exports have entered the negative territory since October last year, with the biggest fall of 16 per cent witnessed in January forcing the government to revise its $200 billion target. For the April-January period, shipments stood at $144.26 billion.

In line with providing cover to exporters, the corporation has recently paid a claim of Rs 53.83 crore, the highest in the history of ECGC to a textile exporter -- Devgiri Exports -- in Jaipur. This was against payments for a shipment worth Rs 65 crore that was sent to a US-based company, which went bankrupt.

"We have sold 338 policies in Rajasthan as against 282 policies in the last fiscal. Our premium business has also increased by 13.45 per cent to Rs 8.57 crore from Rs 7.55 crore in the last fiscal in the state. The global meltdown has made exporters aware about the value of insurance," he said.