| Date: |
26-12-2015 |
| Subject: |
Centre to meet states to mull export strategies on January 8 |
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NEW DELHI: The government has called the first meeting of the National Council for Trade Development and Promotion on January 8 to discuss export strategies of states and align them with the Foreign Trade Policy (FTP). This comes as India's exports have been falling for the past twelve months.
The commerce department also wants states to engage with the various free trade agreements that India is negotiating apart from issues related to the World Trade Organisation.
"India's exports have almost plateaued over the last few years and the trade deficit has increased steadily with only a marginal decline in April to September 2015 as compared to the corresponding period last year," said an official aware of the details.
The council was set up in July and includes representatives from the ministries of finance, shipping, civil aviation, agriculture and food processing, apart from state commerce ministers. "Since all factors of production are with the states, it is a good decision to call them and have export strategies in tune with the overall FTP," said Ajay Sahai, director general of the Federation of Indian Export Organisations.
In November, exports shrank by a quarter from a year earlier to $20 billion, leading exporters to believe the situation is now worse than at the peak of the global financial crisis in 2008-09, while imports declined 30% to almost $30 billion.
April-November exports fell 18.5% from a year ago. Just seven out of India's top 30 export goods, including carpets, jute products and tea, registered an increase in November, compared with nine in October.
The government has said there is no crisis on the export front but a need for caution. A substantial part of the decline is due to the fall in gold and crude prices. India's non-oil, non gems and jewellery exports were down only 3.7% in rupee terms in April-November.
States have been asked to identify infrastructure bottlenecks and indicate action plans to address them in the meeting. The amendment of labour laws for sectors such as textiles and handicrafts, where worker demand is seasonal, is high on the agenda for which states will interact with industry bodies.
Source : economictimes.indiatimes.com
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