Exports surge to 24.5 billion dollars in February

The Minister said the February export figures were a “very important” milestone given that the present government, when it had assumed charge, had seen a decline in exports. The shift to a cumulative growth augured well, she said, adding the performance was commendable as these exports came from the non-petro or non-jewellery sector such as commodities. 

Generally, the performance of trade and services sector in India enabled the country to hold its head high but as the merchandise goods had also shown upward trend, signalling growth. With greater engagement, things will also look up for India and Russia – the partner country for IESS, the Minister said. “Exports are performing well. We have crossed the hump,” Sitharaman said, adding the goods and services side were showing positive results. 

Earlier, she said for the first time the event is being held outside Mumbai, reflecting the state’s strength on engineering side.  Russia had come with a high-level 120-member delegation, headed by Russian Trade and Industry Minister Denis Manturov. She had detailed meetings with Manturov, wherein a host of bilateral issues were discussed. 

There is enormous potential to increase bilateral trade from the current 6.62 billion dollars and as part of this effort, the two officials had also discussed on early operationalisation of the International North South Transport Corridor that would cut the time and cost for transportation of goods between both the countries. 

Sitharaman also spoke about the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between India and the Eurasian Economic Union, which includes Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan. The Minister said, “negotiations are still on… we want to conclude at the earliest. Russia is actively engaged in the negotiations pushing for the FTA to be signed.” 

She also had urged the Department of Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das to send a delegation to Moscow and he had agreed to do so in mid-April. Sitharaman also pressed upon the need to have Russia as its partner country for jewellery show scheduled to be held in July 2017 at Mumbai and the advanced healthcare India summit to be held in October this year either in Delhi or Mumbai. 

The department of commerce had taken a key initiative with the Engineering Export Promotion Council (EEPC) for technology upgradation for engineering manufacturers that was aimed at boosting exports.

“This is being attempted by bridging the gap between leading R&D labs and industry for the development of cutting edge export-oriented technologies,” she added. They have identified important industrial clusters and are interacting with stakeholders to identify the technology gaps so that they could be plugged and filled in by research/academic institutes that would make available cutting-edge technology to match the best products in the world, Sitharaman said, noting that the India’s engineering exports will touch the $60 bn mark for the fiscal ending 2016-17 on the back of revival of demand in the US and for select products like iron. 

During April-January of this fiscal, the engineering exports were $50.87 bn, exceeding the total shipments of $49 bn in the entire financial year of 2015-16.

Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) TN has welcomed the Tamil Nadu Budget 2017-18 as growth oriented with its thrust on inclusive development. P Ravichandran, Chairman, CII Tamil Nadu State Council thanked the Government of Tamil Nadu for considering many of its recommendations, especially in the areas of infrastructure development in TN. 

He said, “The Finance Minister’s announcement of allocation of Rs 1,400 crore for the Smart Cities Mission is a welcome move.  CII congratulates the Government for taking various measures towards improving the infrastructure and business climate in the State. 

Initiatives such as strengthening the single window clearance for starting new business, expansion of Metro Rail and plan for next phase, expansion of road infrastructure between Chennai and suburbs, plan for Investment Promotion Programme Phase II, fund allocation for development of MSME sector, fund allocation for capital subsidy for the industry are in the right direction.” 

CII also remarked that increased support to farmer producer organisations is a potential game changer if implemented well based on clusters. More impetus on cold chain infrastructure, backward integration and food processing policy will be advantageous for the food processing sector. The budget also addresses water shortage issues.