The Hindu Business Line : Talks soon with States to ease mica exporters' woes: Elangovan

RESPONDING to pleas by leading mica exporters of eastern India for immediate Central intervention for getting the mines located in Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan fully productive, Mr E.V.K.S. Elangovan, Union Minister of State for Commerce & Industry, said that a dialogue would be initiated soon with the various State Governments for realising the full potential of mica exports.

Talking to newspersons on the sidelines of an interactive session with leading engineering exporters on the new Foreign Trade Policy initiatives, organised by the Engineering Export Promotion Council (EEPC) here on Thursday, the Minister said he was aware of the difficulties faced by this section of exporters with regard to mining lease renewals and other critical issues from the State Governments.

According to Mr M.L. Rajgarhia, CMD of Mica Manufacturing Co Pvt Ltd, against an export potential of over Rs 1,000 crore, Indian mica exports today was barely Rs 130 crore. He said demand for processed mica (in sheets) from the global electrical and electronics sector was rising steadily.

Asked how successful has been the ASIDE (Assistance for States in Export Development) Scheme from the department's point of view, Mr Elangovan said funds utilisation under the scheme was somewhat uneven. While some are way ahead, a few are quite sluggish on this front, he added. Not willing to name the laggard states, he said efforts would be made to motivate all the States to speed up export infrastructure development. He also appreciated the industrial clusters created by some of the States for export purpose.

The Minister urged the industrialists in the engineering sector to not only try their utmost to increase exports but also help the country to become the manufacturing hub of the world within the next 2-3 years. He complimented the engineering exporters for achieving exports of $10.5 billion in 2003 despite infrastructure constraints.

Earlier, welcoming the Minister, Mr Raksh Shah, National Chairman, EEPC, said that the engineering basket, which earlier consisted of low value raw materials, now had high value technologically advanced capital goods.

Stressing on the need to neutralise the incidence of levies and duties on inputs used, and unshackling of controls to reduce transaction costs, he said the congestion at the JNPT Port was now alarmingand sought immediate steps to remove it.

Majority of the 12,000-odd members of EEPC belong to the SME sector, and they contribute more than 40 per cent of the total exports, said Mr Shah.

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