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There is a need for transforming each district of India into an export hub, says Piyush Goyal

Updated: Sep 12, 2019 12:17:58pm
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There is a need for transforming each district of India into an export hub, says Piyush Goyal

New Delhi, Sep 12 (KNN) Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday asserted that there is a need for transforming each such district of the country into an export hub because every district in India has its own distinct handicraft and unique specialties and also has the potential for exports.

''Each district of India has the potential for exports as they are equal to that of a country with its own distinct handicraft and unique specialties like saris, perfumes, sweets and utensils. There is a need for transforming each district of India into an export hub,'' said Goyal in his address at the second meeting of the Board of Trade.

The Board of Trade and Council for Trade Development and Promotion have been merged into the Board of Trade and representatives from both bodies were present in the meeting.

Goyal further said that the merger of banks will now enable them to disburse enhanced credit, raise their risk appetite and to raise resources from the market.

He also said that Rs 70,000 crore will be released to PSBs upfront and additional lending and liquidity to the tune of Rs 5 lakh crore that will benefit corporate, retail borrowers, MSMEs, small traders and exporters.

‘’All pending GST refunds due to MSMEs will be paid within 30 days and improved One Time Settlement policy will benefit MSMEs and retail borrowers in settling their overdue’’,  the Minister said.

Goyal said that although total exports of India have crossed half trillion-dollar mark at USD 537 billion in 2018-19, goods exports are at an all-time high of USD 331 billion and services exports stand at a record USD 205 billion but India will have to achieve one trillion USD of exports in the next five years. For this, the Minister said that ''we need to increase domestic production and improve our competitiveness''.

Simultaneously, both Central and State Governments, together have to take measures for further improving ease of doing business, decrease logistics cost, simplify regulatory procedures, he said.

''It is a matter of pride that our rank in ease of doing business has improved from 142 in 2014 to 77 in 2018 with trading across borders up from 122 to 80. However, we have to break into top 50 nations and we have to improve ease of doing business throughout the country and the States have to play a major role in this,'' the minister maintained.

The Commerce and Industry Minister announced that the Ministry will soon be coming out with a credit scheme for exporters with enhanced insurance cover upto 90 per cent instead of the present 60 per cent.

Goyal said that there has not been much growth in exports this year and it is not satisfactory as India has a huge potential for exports due to the trade dispute between the US and China which has provided a window of opportunity to Indian manufacturers for taking up exports of products to the US or China where the higher tariffs have been imposed on imports from the other country.

''We have a trade surplus of USD 17 billion with the US while we have a trade deficit of USD 53 billion with China,'' added the Minister and for this India needs to work on its strengths by exploring market access for agriculture and pharma products in different regions.

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