 "Nirmala Sitharaman")
Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday said though export volumes had held steady, returns had suffered because of currency volatility.
Between April and February in the last financial year (2015-16), cumulative exports declined by 16.73 per cent to $238.41 billion. In the same period of 2014-15, the exports were $286.3 billion.
The first meeting of the Board of Trade is scheduled on Wednesday.
After a discussion with various export promotion councils on Tuesday, Sitharaman, echoing the sentiments of the sector, said the priority was exploring markets where demand has not plunged, and incentivising labour-intensive exporting sectors. She added that there was a lot of interest in Indian services and exports in African markets.
The government has been meeting exporters as the merchandise exports have contracted for 15 months in a row, till February, amid tepid global demand and a volatile global currency.
During the meeting on Tuesday, the second such interaction, exporters demanded the continuation of trade incentives such as the interest subvention scheme, apart from better market access to offshore markets.
Some of the other issues flagged by exporters include non-tariff barriers to trade with other countries, currency volatility, special economic zones, problems in dealing with customs authorities and service tax.
"We have requested the interest subvention be extended to merchant exporters because they buy from MSME (micro, small and medium enterprises)," said S C Ralhan, president, Federation of Indian Export Organisations.
|
BOOST EXPORT PLAN Ahead of the Board of Trade meeting, Union commerce and industry minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday met exporters. Here’s what she said |
|
Fickle currency: Exports haven’t plunged; currency fluctuation has hit their value Focus export: Markets where demand has not plunged a priority, looking at ways to incentivise labour-intensive export Favourable scheme: Interest Subvention scheme had been popular with merchandise exporters On FDI in e-commerce: FDI has not been allowed in multi-brand retail or for e-commerce which is business-to-consumer, to protect jobs |
The newly constituted Board of Trade is a top advisory body on external commerce headed by Sitharaman, and includes top officials across ministries and industry leaders. It will meet on Wednesday to discuss ways to boost exports.
After the meeting on Tuesday, Sitharaman to reporters the Interest Subvention scheme had been popular with merchandise exporters. A second tranche of funds amounting to Rs 700 crore was disbursed by the Reserve Bank of India to them on Tuesday.
Sitharaman also spoke on the new guidelines of the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion, which allowed 100 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) scheme in the marketplace model of e-commerce, claiming the government would not open up those sectors which would put at peril Indian jobs.
"We are careful about sectors where people are already self-employed, and have invested their family's inheritances," she said.
Traders fearing a loss of market have opposed the government's reform.
The Confederation of All India Traders has claimed that giving back-door entry to global players would adversely impact MSMEs. Clarifying the government's stand, Sitharaman said FDI has not been allowed in multi-brand retail or for e-commerce, which is business-to-consumer.
"Anger is therefore, not justified," she said.
