Page 10 - Commerce Ministry

Realty boost: IT SEZ developers get flexibility to use vacant space

A notification amending the SEZ Rules, 2006, issued by the ministry, said a part of the SEZ could be declared "non-processing area" where free-zone rules would not apply

Plan shared by departments to improve logistics efficiency, global ranking

The commerce and industry ministry on Thursday said a targeted action plan has been shared with various departments and big data is being generated to improve the logistics efficiency of the country. These efforts will improve India's ranking in the World Bank's LPI (logistics performance index), the department for promotion of industry and internal trade (DPIIT) said in a statement. A meeting to showcase ongoing and upcoming initiatives and reforms to improve India's logistics efficiency to the World Bank team was held under the chairpersonship of the Special Secretary (Logistics), DPIIT, Sumita Dawra here on Wednesday. Nodal officers of the LPI-dedicated team, including those from Land Ports Authority of India (LPAI), Civil Aviation, Railways, Ports, Shipping and Waterways, Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) and National Industrial Corridor Development Corporation Limited (NICDC) and members from World Bank participated in the meeting. "The targeted action plan ha

Govt to approve 10-11 testing labs set ups for cotton, textiles by Dec 16

The government is planning to approve setting up of 10-11 testing laboratories across the country to ensure high quality of cotton and textiles for both the domestic consumers as well as for the export markets, Union Minister Piyush Goyal said on Saturday. "I have discussed with the Textile Ministry, the Consumer Affairs Department, who will work together with the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) for setting up high quality cotton and textile testing laboratories," Goyal, the Union Minister for Textiles, Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs and Food and Public Distribution, said. "In the next 15 days, by December 16, we will approve a series of laboratories across the country with an investment of about USD 6-7 million," he said. Addressing the four-day 81st Plenary Meeting of the International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC) that started on Saturday, the minister said, "We want the most modern and high-quality testing laboratories to come up in different parts of the country, s

'Work in progress to remove trade barriers in sub-Saharan African nations'

The commerce ministry is working to address issues related to non-tariff barriers and market access for domestic products in sub-Saharan African countries like Nigeria, Ethiopia, Ghana and Gulf nations to boost India's exports, an official said. The official said meetings have been held with Indian missions of the sub-Saharan African countries with which India has significant bilateral trade. The major trading partners of India in that region in 2022-23 were South Africa (total trade USD 18.9 billion, exports USD 8.5 billion); Nigeria (USD 11.85 billion, exports USD 5.15 billion); Togo (USD 6.6 billion, exports USD 6 billion), and Tanzania (USD 6.5 billion, exports USD 3.93 billion). The other countries were Mozambique (USD 5 billion, exports USD 2.5 billion); Angola (USD 4.22 billion, exports USD 621 million); and Kenya (USD 3.4 billion, exports USD 3.2 billion). "A virtual meeting with Indian Mission of top 10 countries (bilateral trade-wise) in sub-Saharan African region was hel

Govt, Amazon partner to leverage 'districts as export hubs' initiative

The commerce ministry on Thursday said it has inked an agreement with US-based Amazon to provide training to MSMEs in 20 identified districts in areas such as making digital catalogues and tax-related issues with a view to promoting exports through e-commerce medium. The capacity building session will allow MSMEs to learn about imaging, digital cataloguing of their products, tax advisory amongst others, it said in a statement. The MoU was signed in the presence of Director General of Foreign Trade (DGF) Santosh Sarangi; Chetan Krishnaswamy (Vice President, Public Policy Amazon); and Bhupen Wakankar (Director Global Trade Amazon India). DGFT is an arm of the commerce ministry which deals with import and export-related issues of the country. "To enable micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and boost e-commerce exports from the country, DGFT is collaborating with the various e-commerce players to leverage the Districts as Export Hubs initiative and promote e-commerce exports f

India developing sea protocols for fresh produce to boost ocean exports

India is developing sea protocols for various fresh fruits and vegetables like bananas, mangoes, pomegranates and jackfruit to promote their exports through ocean routes, a senior government official said on Tuesday. At present, most of these exports are happening by air route because of lower volumes and different ripening periods. The protocol includes understanding voyage time, scientifically understanding the ripening of these commodities, harvesting at a particular time and training of farmers. These protocols will be different for different fruits and vegetables. Additional Secretary in the Commerce Ministry Rajesh Agrawal said shipments through sea route have two advantages - cost and volume. The exercise would help boost exports of fruits and vegetables as shipments through air cargo have a positive impact on the price competitiveness of these commodities. "So far, we are using air routes to export these perishable goods. But now, we are trying to see how we can use the se

DGTR initiates sou-motu investigation into dumping of 4 Chinese goods

The commerce ministry's investigation arm DGTR has "suo-motu" initiated probes against the alleged dumping of four products, including roller chains, glass mirrors and fasteners, by Chinese companies as the authority seeks to guard MSME units against cheap imports from the neighbouring country, an official said on Wednesday. Usually, anti-dumping investigations are initiated based on an application filed by domestic producers, but since the fragmented industries did not have the know-how of the procedures involved in the trade remedy probe, the Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) has undertaken the exercise to investigate the matter on its own initiative. Directorate General of Trade Remedies Anant Swarup said that these products are mainly manufactured by MSMEs. He said that the import of these four products together stood at about Rs 800 crore and they are coming from China. "We have initiated four suo-motu cases," Swarup told reporters here. The DGTR said that it is ..

Comm min expects to issue 20,000 status holder certificates to exporters

The Commerce Ministry, which automated the process for issuance of exporter status certificates, is expected to issue about 20,000 such documents by the end of this year, a senior official said on Wednesday. Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) Santosh Kumar Sarangi said this would be a big jump in the issuance of these certificates, and so far, they have issued over 40,200 status-holder certificates. "There are another 2,000 applications, which are under scrutiny because of their prior history. But ultimately, those will also get issued, and by the end of this year, we expect about 20,000 status holders to be recognised through this automated process," he told reporters here. Last month, DGFT said that an exporter status certificate will now be issued based on the available electronic data, and traders will not have to apply to get the recognition. These certificates provide certain privileges, including simplified procedures under foreign trade policy (FTP), priority custom .

Pilot launch of revamped eRBC system for exporters from November 15

The commerce ministry on November 15 will do a soft launch of the revamped electronic bank realisation certificate for self-certification by exporters to promote ease of doing business for traders. An electronic Bank Realisation Certificate (eBRC) is an important document for exporters and is issued by a bank as a confirmation that the exporter has received the payment from a foreign buyer against the export of goods or services. This certificate validates repatriation of export proceeds to the country and ensure compliance with provisions of foreign exchange rules. eBRCs can be generated for outbound shipments of goods, services and deemed exports. According to a trade notice of the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), the upgraded system is based on electronic inward remittance messages to be transmitted directly by banks to the DGFT. Based on the messages received, the exporters would self-certify their eBRCs. "The enhanced eBRC system shall enable exporters to reduce

Piyush Goyal to attend IPEF next week, meet execs for India investment

The IPEF ministerial meeting is scheduled to take place during November 13-14, which is likely to see 'significant updates' on the progress of negotiations

First trial shipment of bananas exported to Netherlands: Comm ministry

The commerce ministry on Friday said the first trial shipment of bananas has been exported to the Netherlands. For the trial shipment of bananas, Agricultural & Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) has enlisted the support of ICAR-Central Institute for Subtropical Horticulture (CISH), Lucknow, for technical assistance while InI Farms has partnered with Del Monte for marketing and distribution in Europe, and Maersk for logistics, it said. It added that banana exports to the Netherlands would lead to higher prices and increased income for farmers. Despite being the world's largest banana producer, India's export share is currently just 1 per cent in the global market, though the country accounts for 26.45 per cent of the world's banana production at 35.36 million metric ton. In 2022-23, India exported bananas worth USD 176 million. "With the first trial shipment to the European market, it is estimated that India may be able to export bananas worth more than .

Commerce ministry panel reviews guidelines for elections of EPCs, FIEO

The commerce ministry's committee, which is reviewing the eligibility criteria for the election of office bearers of export promotion councils (EPCs) and apex exporters body FIEO, is expected to submit its report by end of this month, an official said. Exporters have urged the ministry for early release of the report so that elections can be conducted in the councils and Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) as per the new criteria. The official said that a draft report was circulated to the councils and suggestions have been sought. "We have received the feedback. The committee will review that and the report would be submitted to the higher authorities of the ministry," the official added. In May this year, the ministry decided to review the eligibility criteria for the election to make them more inclusive and representative. A three-member panel was constituted to review the existing guidelines and make suitable recommendations about representation of different ...

Quality standards are a passport for trade, says commerce minister Goyal

Agreeing that quality standards are a passport for trade, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Piyush Goyal on Friday said India is making policy efforts to ensure consumers get out of the good-old day's mindset of two standards -- local and export quality -- of products. Goyal, while addressing the G-20 Standards Dialogue here, recalled that in the good old days, every product had a mark for 'export quality' and consumers who could afford used to pick up export quality goods. "Our effort is to move out of that mindset. Our effort is that every product that is made in India will be a high-quality product. When a consumer picks up a product will be reassured of high quality and will not have to look at other products for 'x' quality. Policymaking in India is moving in that direction," he said. He also said that standards are like patents and he cannot but agree with what the chief of the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) Pramod Kumar Tiwari looks at standards as a passport to ...

India, Saudi Arabia commerce ministers discuss ways to promote trade ties

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Wednesday held discussions with his Saudi Arabian counterpart Majid bin Abdullah AlKassabi on ways to further promote trade ties between the two countries. Goyal was in Riyadh for two days to attend the seventh edition of Future Investment Initiative (FII). "Discussed how the robust India-Saudi trade ties can be further scaled to make global supply chains more resilient," Goyal said on social platform X. He also met Saudi Arabia Energy Minister Prince Abdul Aziz Bin Salman Al-Saud; Investment Minister Khalid A Al Falih; Industry and Mineral Resources Minister Bandar bin Ibrahim AlKhorayef; and Governor Public Investment Fund (PIF) Yassir Rummayyan. Goyal talked about the multiple opportunities offered by India. The bilateral trade between the countries stood at USD 52.75 billion in 2022-23 against USD 42.86 billion in 2021-22. India received USD 3.22 billion in foreign direct investment from Saudi Arabia between April 2000 and June 2

Working on plan to encourage traders to use Indian-flag vessels: Goyal

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that India aims to be among the top five nations in shipbuilding over the next 25 years

Govt to issue end-to-end digital authorisation for laptop, tablets' import

The decision spells relief for global laptop makers such as Dell, HP, Apple, Samsung and Lenovo, which had been unnerved by the abrupt announcement of a licensing regime in August

Govt deserves praise for e-SHC initiative

The commerce ministry says that with the launch of this new system, the number of status holders will go up from 12,518 to about 20,000

DGTR reviews anti-dumping duty on alloy wheels imported from China

The commerce ministry's investigation arm DGTR has initiated a probe to review the need to continue the anti-dumping duty on aluminium alloy wheels imported from China, following complaints from the domestic industry. Kosei Minda Aluminium Company, Maxion Wheels Aluminium India, Minda Kosei Aluminium Wheel, and Steel Strips Wheels have filed an application on behalf of the domestic industry for initiation of sunset review investigation for continued imposition of anti-dumping duty levied on imports of 'aluminium alloy road wheel' exported from China. DGTR in a notification has said the applicants have submitted prima facie evidence of dumping of the product from China in spite of the existing anti-dumping duties. "The authority hereby initiates sunset review investigation to examine whether the expiry of existing anti-dumping duties against China is likely to lead to continuation or recurrence of dumping and consequent injury to the domestic industry," the notification said. As per

Centre establishes National Turmeric Board, expected to reach $1 bn by 2030

National Turmeric Board to increase awareness and consumption of turmeric and develop new markets internationally to increase exports

Commerce Ministry opens applications for registration to import IT hardware

The registration plan comes after the Centre decided to delay the requirement of licenses for such imports