Page 3 - Commerce Ministry

Small tea growers ask Centre to set up fair price discovery mechanism

Small tea growers, who contribute more than 50 per cent to the crop production of the country, have urged the Centre to set up a fair and transparent price discovery mechanism so that they can realise a proper value by selling leaves to factories. In a letter to Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal, the Confederation of Indian Small Tea Growers Associations (CISTA) suggested a price protection scheme modelled on the lines of the minimum support price (MSP). It said the Tea Board should undertake a detailed study to determine an equitable price-sharing ratio between small growers and factories. Small growers are facing the persistent challenge of poor price realisation, which is undermining the sector's sustainability, CISTA president Bijoy Gopal Chakraborty said. Small growers contribute more than 52 per cent to the country's tea production, and a proper price realisation mechanism should be identified so that livelihoods are sustained, he said. Chakraborty said the association has alre

Looking to fast-track trade pact review talks with Asean: Piyush Goyal

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday said discussions are underway with ASEAN to review the existing trade pact, and he is looking forward to fast-track the negotiations. The issue figured during the meeting between Goyal and his Malaysian counterpart T Zafrul Aziz. "Had a productive meeting with @Tzafrul_Aziz, Malaysian Minister of Investment, Trade & Industry. Malaysia is India's permanent coordinator from ASEAN on economic matters," Goyal said in a post on X. The ministers discussed the ongoing review of ASEAN India Trade of Goods Agreement (AITIGA) and addressing its challenges therein. "Looking forward to fast-tracking discussions with ASEAN Member States to ensure fair trade and balanced growth," he said adding, "We also discussed furthering discussions on the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) between both the countries". The remarks assume significance as the review talks are progressing slow. The review of the agreement is a ...

Digital news publishers' body backs copyright protection in AI training use

DNPA supports government review of AI and copyright laws, urging fair compensation for digital news content used in AI training

Task Force on textile exports to tackle sectoral issues: Commerce Ministry

A task force on textile exports will create a unified platform to address critical issues concerning the sector to boost outbound shipments, the Commerce Ministry said on Wednesday. The country aims to increase textile exports to USD 100 billion by 2030-31. The first meeting of the task force was held on June 10 under the chairpersonship of Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal to discuss issues and strategies for enhancing textiles exports from India, besides increasing share in global markets. Barthwal said the primary objective of the task force is to create a unified platform for addressing critical issues concerning the textile sector by involving all relevant stakeholders. Special Secretary, Department of Commerce, Rajesh Agrawal said there is a need to focus on innovations keeping in view the latest trends to garner a higher share of the export market. Textiles is one of the key focused sectors identified by the Department of Commerce for promoting exports. While the governmen

Piyush Goyal calls Italian business enclaves in India to boost investment

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday proposed to develop an industrial conclave for Italian businesses in India to promote investments. Speaking here at India-Italy Business Forum meeting, he said Italian companies can consider setting up manufacturing units and offices in those enclaves. "I have a proposition for you. We can set up Italian enclaves where Italian businesses can set up shops... we can set up hotels, restaurants, healthcare for Italian people who would come to work there. It will be home away from home for them," Goyal said. These industrial parks can be set up in the proposed industrail corridors in different parts of the country. The minister is here on a two-day visit. He is meeting leaders and businesses to boost trade and investments between the two countries. India would invite Italian companies to certain locations in India such as Dighi near Mumbai and Sambhaji Nagar (Aurangabad) in Maharashtra to showcase potential locations for these ...

IIFT to open its first overseas campus in Dubai, receives govt approval

Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, which comes under the Ministry of Commerce, has received final approval to open its first campus abroad, however, final permissions from the UAE are pending

WPI inflation falls to 13-month low in April as food, fuel become cheaper

The sharpest vegetable price fall since October 2023 and a broad-based slowdown in fuel and manufactured goods inflation pulled WPI to its lowest level in over a year

Centre warns industry against transhipment to US; assures clarity on norms

The Commerce Ministry has cautioned the domestic industry to strictly follow the US 'rules of origin' norms while exporting goods to America, as re-routing products from high-tariff countries without substantial value addition could be classified as transhipment and attract higher duties, an official said. The ministry has also assured the industry that all efforts would be made to codify the value addition norms to provide certainty and clarity to exporters, the official said. The issue was deliberated at length during a stakeholder consultation on India-US trade ties, convened by the ministry on May 2 here. The stakeholder consultation was chaired by Special Secretary in the ministry Rajesh Agrawal. He is also India's chief negotiator for the India-US bilateral trade agreement (BTA). Transhipment refers to the process of importing products from one country and then exporting to another, usually without significant processing or value addition. In a meeting with exporters last mon

Centre consults industry on India-US trade pact, seeks suggestions

The commerce ministry on May 2 held a comprehensive consultation with the domestic industry on the proposed India-US trade agreement and sought suggestions to further deepen bilateral trade ties in a mutually beneficial manner, an official said. The stakeholder consultation was chaired by Special Secretary in the ministry Rajesh Agrawal. He is also India's chief negotiator for the India-US bilateral trade agreement (BTA). During the meeting, Department of Commerce briefed the industry representatives on recent developments related to India-US trade ties and solicited their views and suggestions to further expand them in a mutually beneficial manner, the official added. The special secretary assured the industry that their inputs would be factored in the ongoing trade negotiations. Senior representatives from industry bodies including Confederation of Indian Industry, FICCI, PHDCCI, India Cellular and Electronics Association and Assocham participated in the deliberations. The first

Commerce Min seeks exporters' views on schemes under export promotion plan

The commerce ministry has sought views of export promotion councils (EPCs) on the different schemes which the government is framing under the export promotion mission announced in the Union Budget, an industry official said. The councils will have to submit their comments by tomorrow to the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), the official said. The government is framing schemes for MSME exporters to provide credit on easy terms, promote alternate financing instruments through strengthening factoring services for them and offer monetary assistance to deal with non-tariff measures imposed by other countries. The commerce, MSME and finance ministries are working on these schemes. In the meeting, DGFT Ajay Bhadoo made a presentation on the mission to the representatives of the councils. Officials from ECGC, EXIM bank, and the RBI were also present at the meeting. Certain exporters have suggested to the ministry that funds under MAI (Market Access Initiative) should be given o

Commerce ministry plans to extend RoDTEP scheme beyond September 30

The RoDTEP scheme came into effect in 2021 and refunds the embedded non-creditable central, state, and local levies paid on inputs to exporters to boost India's exports

Commerce secy visits Croatia, Netherlands to boost trade, investment ties

The April 22-26 visit came ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's three-nation Europe tour to Croatia, Netherlands and Norway in May

Core sector growth rises slightly to 3.8% in March, shows govt data

In March 2024, core sector growth had stood at 6.3 per cent

India's organic product exports up 34.6% to $665.96 mn in 2024-25

India's organic product exports rose by 34.6 per cent in 2024-25 to USD 665.96 million in 2024-25 from USD 494.8 million in the previous fiscal on account of increase in demand for items such as pulses, essential oil, fresh fruit and vegetables in developed countries, the commerce ministry data showed. It said that in volume terms, the shipments rose by over 4 per cent to 368,155 tonnes in the last fiscal. "The upward trend highlights rising international demand for Indian organic products," an official said. The data also showed that the export of organic pulses has increased to USD 17.89 million in 2024-25 from USD 5.25 million in 2023-24. Organic essential oil shipments have risen to USD 12.35 million in 2024-25 from USD 4.52 million in 2023-24. Similarly, the outbound shipments of fresh fruits and vegetables have increased to USD 9.2 million from USD 4.52 million in 2023-24. The commerce ministry's arm APEDA has revised the NPOP's regulations to make it more farmer-friendly and

Govt to give bulk of ₹10,000 cr startup fund to AI, tech sectors: Official

The commerce and industry ministry will allocate a major part of the second Rs 10,000 crore Fund of Funds Scheme (FFS) for startups to budding entrepreneurs in sectors such as new-age technology, artificial intelligence, and machine building, an official said. In the Budget, the government announced a new FFS with a corpus of Rs 10,000 crore. In 2016 also, the government had launched a similar scheme. "We are going to dedicate a lot of this Rs 10,000 crore fund of funds largely for the new age tech, AI, and machine building," the official said. The 2016 scheme was set up to catalyse venture capital investments and is operationalised by the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI), which provides capital to Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi)-registered AIFs, which in turn invest in startups. SIDBI is expected to manage the second scheme also, the official added. With an intent to build a strong ecosystem of the country for nurturing innovation and promoting ...

Centre launches Global Tariff and Trade Helpdesk to assist stakeholders

The commerce ministry is actively tracking developments in global trade, particularly in relation to tariff changes, import surges, and export-related challenges, an official statement said on Friday. In this backdrop, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) has operationalised a dedicated 'Global Tariff and Trade Helpdesk' to assist stakeholders in navigating emerging trade issues, the commerce ministry said. "Given the evolving trade landscape and the introduction of various tariff and counter-tariff measures, there may be both new export opportunities and heightened import pressures from specific countries or product sectors," it said. The helpdesk would look into issues relating to import and export challenges, import surges or dumping, EXIM Clearance, logistics or supply chain challenges, financial or banking issues, and regulatory or compliance issues. It will also collect and collate trade-related issues concerning other ministries/ departments or agencies of central

Commerce ministry alerts customs to monitor imports, exports vigilantly

The commerce ministry has alerted the customs authorities to maintain strict vigilance on imports and exports amid concerns about possible dumping of goods and re-routing of consignments from India to third countries following imposition of high tariffs by the US on China, an official said. As sweeping tariffs have been imposed on China, its goods have become expensive in the US market, and this could lead to diversion of goods into countries like India. The US has imposed a 125 per cent duty on China. The official said that customs have been alerted about monitoring our exports and imports to see if there is any extraordinary surge. India should not be used as a re-routing destination". The concerned line ministries and industry associations have also been asked to provide inputs on the surge in imports and its impact on the domestic industry.

India will become a prosperous global power: Piyush Goyal on Ram Navami

'May the blessings of Lord Shri Ram remain on everyone... May this country, under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi, progress further,' Goyal asserted

'Mixed bag, not setback': Govt analysing impact of 27% Trump tariffs

US-India trade talks continue as India assesses the impact of the tariffs imposed by the Trump administration on Indian imports

Commerce ministry prepares for potential impact of US tariffs: Report

The commerce ministry is working on different scenarios to counter the possible fallout of reciprocal tariffs to be announced by the Trump administration on April 2 on its key trading partners including India, sources said. US President Donald Trump has said that April 2 will be 'Liberation Day' as he plans to announce tariffs or import duties to bring down America's trade deficit, and promote the country's manufacturing. India and the US are also working on a bilateral trade agreement to promote two-way commerce and investments. The domestic industry and exporters have raised concerns over the possible impact of the US' reciprocal tariffs on India's exports as the duties could make the goods uncompetitive in the global markets. The US is the largest trading partner of India. Sources said that the impact of these tariffs may vary from sector to sector. They added that the ministry is preparing different scenarios. These scenarios would be important to help domestic companies deal