Standards mulled for education export, tourism, health care

An inter-ministerial panel has been discussing setting standards, said government official

An inter-ministerial panel has been discussing setting standards for education services export, health-care and tourism with Bureau of Indian Standards, a government official said. "The government is looking at the Thai model of low-cost tourism," the official added. The services sector has grown rapidly over the past decade and accounted for 66.1 per cent of growth in gross value added (GVA) growth in 2015-16. 

The sector is also an important net foreign exchange earner and the most attractive sector for foreign direct investment inflows. 

However, a push to incorporate global standards have met with mixed reactions from the domestic industry, where players have claimed these would inflate the cost.

On the domestic front, experts have also called for greater attention to end the practice of differential standards - low for domestic market and high for exports.

According to another official, the government has listed 137 products used for domestic consumption, on which mandatory standards will be applied on a priority basis. These include products in the food, electronics and steel categories.

The government also plans to engage with the stakeholders to boost support for the policy, even as industry insiders are of the opinion that standards control would affect the cost of production.

According to the official, products posing threat to human life are not negotiable.