The Hindu Business Line : ITC welcomes spur to agri infrastructure development

Sops under scheme
Under the scheme, status-holders will be rewarded with duty credit scrips equal to 10 per cent of the value of agricultural exports, provided they use them for duty redemption on imports of cold storage, pack houses, reefer vans, etc.

Kolkata April 21 Steps taken in the annual supplement to the Foreign Trade Policy 2004-09, announced on Thursday by the Union Commerce Minister, Mr Kamal Nath, particularly with regard to incentivising of agri exports for propping up agri infrastructure, have been welcomed by large corporates engaged in agri exports.

Mr S. Sivakumar, Divisional CEO, IBD/Agri Business, ITC Ltd, lauded the introduction of a new scheme, for the first time, for incentivising agro-processing, under which status-holders will be rewarded with duty credit scrips equal to 10 per cent of the value of agricultural exports, provided they use them for duty redemption on imports of cold storage, pack houses, reefer vans, etc.

This would be over and above the benefits available from the existing schemes of Ministries of Agriculture and Food Processing.

`Structurally relevant'

He said the critical thing, and this has been correctly addressed by the minister, was that incentives for agri exports should really be for investments in essential infrastructure, for boosting both farm productivity and quality. "This, I think, has been addressed for the first time in the exim policy."

He described the scheme as "structurally relevant" for boosting agri exports, especially of processed items, from India.

The new focus on development of much needed infrastructure for agri processing to boost exports augured well for large and small and medium players, he said.

Widening VKGUY basket

He said the other positive feature of the policy announcement by the minister was expansion of the agri commodities list, eligible for duty credit, under Vishesh Krishi Upaaj and Gram Udyog Yojana (VKGUY), with inclusion of items such as coconut oil, soyabean, potato flakes, meals and flours, cardamom, food preparations such as soups, sauces, pasta and bakery products, etc.

Welcoming the thrust on agricultural exports to ensure that product diversification improves in Indian agriculture, Mr Sivakumar said widening of the VKGUY basket would be highly beneficial for the agri exports segment as a whole, for all status holders, including the small export houses.

He felt the change in thrust from the customary "exports for dollar earnings to exports as drivers of employment generation" should bring in a sea change in our approach to agri exports in the future.

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