Govt to identify 100 products to cut imports, boost Aatmanirbhar Bharat

The commerce department is identifying 100 products with high import dependence but domestic capacity to promote Make in India, as India-EU FTA talks progress

As a step towards Aatmanirbhar Bharat, the department of commerce is identifying as many as 100 products, where import dependency and domestic capabilities can be enhanced.

 

“We are identifying 100 products, where we have huge imports, but at the same time we have some domestic capacities. Those imports can be replaced by domestic capacities by improving utilisation of those products. That will be a step towards being Aatmanirbhar,” commerce secretary Sunil Barthwal said on Monday.

“Our endeavour will be that we identify these products, put them in the public domain so that the manufacturers (both current and future) can look at them and give a boost to Make in India,” Barthwal told reporters.

 

The list will be out in the public domain by month-end or in October. It will include items across categories such as engineering goods, chemicals, plastics and pharmaceuticals, among others.

As a part of a preliminary assessment, the department has identified products that can be easily replaced through Swadeshi or Atmanirbharta, Barthwal said. He added that a detailed exercise will involve deliberations with various government departments and consultations with the industry

 

The exercise comes in the backdrop of reciprocal tariffs on Indian goods levied by the US and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's push to promote ‘Swadeshi’ products.

 

India-EU talks

 

Commerce department special secretary L Satya Srinivas said that the 13th round of negotiations for the free trade agreement (FTA) between India and the European Union (EU) was held from 8 to 12 September.

 

And, ‘significant convergence’ was achieved in many areas during the round.

“In this round, we brought quite a few chapters to substantial closure – they were not closed as such, but significant progress has been made,” Srinivas told reporters.

 

He added that both sides aim to conclude the negotiations at the earliest – by the end of this year.

The 14th round of negotiation is scheduled in Brussels from 6 to 10 October

Earlier this month, many high-level engagements, including at the level of commerce secretary and commerce and industry minister, took place.

 

The EU Trade Commissioner and EU Commissioner for Agriculture and Food visited India during 11-12 September. They held meetings with Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal.