Prime Minister Narender Modi met Secretaries from the Commerce and Industry Ministry on Tuesday who outlined the work programme of their departments and pointed out areas of concern.

The meeting was also attended by Commerce & Industry Minister (Independent Charge) Nirmala Seetharaman.

“The meeting was significant because it not only gave the Prime Minister an idea of what was going on in the Commerce and Industry Ministry, but also gave the Secretaries the opportunity to point out what they expected from the Government, especially in the forthcoming Budget,” a Government official told Business Line .

The Commerce Ministry is the nodal Ministry for the Special Economic Zones designed to promote exports, but currently facing a rough time due to global down-turn and imposition of the minimum alternate tax and dividend distribution tax on units and developers.

The Commerce Ministry has been making a case for removal of MAT and DDT on SEZs and extension of other benefits to units in the zones.

Negotiating future Free Trade Agreements better and leveraging more from the existing pacts is also an area of focus.

The Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion, which is part of the Commerce & Industry and looks after issues related to industry and foreign investments, has been implementing the National Investment and Manufacturing Zones (NIMZs). These zones seek to create manufacturing enclaves with world class infrastructure and hassle-free operations to increase the share of manufacturing in India’s GDP to 25 per cent.

“The DIPP wants labour laws in NIMZs to be relaxed,” a Government official said.

The further opening up of a number of sectors including defence, railways and construction development is also being driven by the DIPP.

The Prime Minister is holding meetings with the heads of all Ministries and Departments to understand priorities and concerns.

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