The Hindu Business Line : `Govt to support campaign against farm sops by West'

THE Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, Mr E.V.K.S. Elangovan, has said that the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government at the Centre is committed to opposing higher farm subsidies being given by the developed countries.

India would steadfastly back the campaign from the other Third World countries against rich countries showering huge subsidies on their farmers, he added.

Mr Elangovan, speaking after inaugurating the Coimbatore District Exporters and Importers Association (Codexia) here, had assured the members of the newly-formed association that his Government was alive to the issues of the free trade regime and would not allow the domestic industries coming into difficulties. The threat of sharp competition from China was not new and, in fact, a few years ago, many in the industry remained sceptical that cheap imports would swarm the domestic market and cripple the local industries but that it did not happen had only proved the fear was unfounded.

As for the Coimbatore-based export industries, Mr Elangovan called upon the region's entrepreneurs to look beyond the traditional textiles and engineering as the liberalised trade environment has now brought them newer opportunities to be innovative in the field of business.