State's Role in Enhancing India's Export Growth

F rom right to left: Mr. Shrikant Sanjekar, Vice-President, Axis Bank Ltd., Dr. Indra Mohan Rohatagi, Vice-President, Merchants Chamber of UP, Mr. Ajay Sahai, Director General & CEO, FIEO, Mr. L Venkateshwarlu, IAS, Commissioner & Director of Industries, Govt. of UP, Mr. R K Jalan, Chairman, Council for Leather Exports, Mr. Manvendra Singh, ITS, Jt. DGFT, Kanpur, at Business Standard Smart Business in Kanpur on 7th July 2014, in association with Federation of Indian Export Organizations.

With India’s export shipment projected at 750 billion US dollars by 2018-19, exporters have urged the Uttar Pradesh government to revisit its strategy to boost exports from the state. Industry strongly feels that UP is yet to realise its economic and export potential, given its mammoth size and traditional industrial hubs across the state.

To discuss the role of UP in driving India’s export and brainstorm on the way forward, Business Standard organised ‘Smart Business’ in association with the Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) in Kanpur on July 7, 2014.

The seminar-cum-knowledge forum saw senior industry department officials and eminent industrialists and exporters sharing their views and giving suggestions for increasing UP’s export basket.

FIEO DG & CEO, Ajay Sahai, lamented UP’s share in India’s export. He said it was much below its potential and stressed that the country’s export basket would remain sub-optimal unless the state made significant contribution.

He said a study commissioned by FIEO found that several industries were on the verge of closure due to tough competition from Chinese products. Giving an example, he said 4 billion dollars’ worth of toys were imported into India, of which 95 percent came from China, which was hurting indigenous units.

UP Industries Commissioner and Director of Industries, L Venkateshwarlu, suggested that cohesive industry-labour relations and ongoing training and ‘skilling’ of labour was the key to good industrial health.

Experts also recommended collection of primary data related to exports, so that policymakers could take corrective measures.

Others who addressed the session included R K Jalan, Chairman, Council for Leather Exports, Irshad Mirza, CMD, Mirza International, I M Rohatagi, Vice President, Merchants’ Chamber of UP, Shrikant Sanjekar, Vice President, Axis Bank, Tapsi Sen De, Regional Manager, Export Credit Guarantee Corporation (ECGC).