Export Intensity Of 490 Firms Rises

The export intensity of a sample of 490 companies increased to 12.6 per cent in 1994-95 from 10.1 per cent in 1991-92, according to a study by the Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India (ICICI) titled Export Performance of Companies in the Corporate Sector.

These companies account for 18.4 per cent of Indias exports, 12.6 per cent of imports and 10.2 per cent of capital goods imports.

The 100 largest exporters accounted for nearly 80 per cent of the total exports by the 490 companies.The largest companies were classified on the basis of gross fixed assets.

One-fifth of the largest companies accounted for more than half of the total exports and nearly two-thirds of the domestic sales of the sample in each of the five years.

When classified by net sales, the 100 largest companies accounted for more than 60 per cent of the samples exports in the five year period.

When these companies were classified into earners and spenders based on their net foreign exchange earnings, it was found that export intensity of the earners was very high and increased from 15.9 per cent in 1991-92 to 20.8 per cent in 1995-96. During the same period, export intensity of the spenders also rose from 3.4 per cent to six per cent.

Net foreign exchange earnings of the sample which were postive till1994-95 turned negative in 1995-96.

The share of raw materials and spares, which was 80.6 per cent of the total foreign exchange expenditure in the base year declined to 74.4 per cent in the terminal year of the study whereas the share of royalty & technical fees, commission and dividend increased during the same period.

Import intensity of the sample grew from10 per cent in the base year to 11.6 per cent in 1995-96. Of the total raw materials consumed, the share of imported raw materials increased from 20.5 per cent in 1991-92 to 24.9 per cent in 1995-96.