Commerce & Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has said the country’s exports and imports are showing positive trends and exports are now approaching last year’s levels after falling sharply in April.

In an interaction with representatives from various export promotion councils, where many put forward their sector-specific concerns, the Minister promised help, said a press release. He said issues falling outside the ambit of the Commerce Ministry will be taken up with the concerned departments and ministries, including Finance, according to an official release.

Goyal further said the Centre is trying to generate more reliable data so that the nation can plan and frame policies better.

Exports decline

Exports of goods from India have been declining since March 2020, mostly due to domestic disruptions caused by the pandemic and fall in global demand. The rate of decline, however, is slowly improving — July saw a fall of 10.2 per cent, against a 60 per cent reduction in April.

The Minister said that 24 focus manufacturing sectors have been identified which have the potential to expand, scale up operations, improve quality, and lead the enhancement of the Indian share in the global trade and value chain. These sectors have the capacity to engage in import substitution and push exports, he added.

On the issue of recent changes in the Merchandise Export from India Scheme (MEIS), Goyal said the ₹2-crore cap will not affect 98 per cent of the exporters who claim benefits under the scheme. The government has already announced the Remission of Duties or Taxes on Export Products (RoDTEP) scheme for exporters in the place of MEIS, and a committee has also been set up to determine the ceiling rates under the RoDTEP scheme, he said. The new scheme will reimburse the embedded taxes and duties already incurred by exporters, he added.

Import trends

Analysing import trends, Goyal said what’s encouraging is that capital goods imports have not declined, and the reduction in imports has been seen mainly in crude, gold and fertilisers. “He added that the trade deficit is reducing drastically and our share in the global trade is improving, thanks to our resilient supply chains, and perseverance and hard work of exporters,” the press release said.

India’s exports declined 4.7 per cent in FY20 to $314 billion, largely due to the sharp 34.57 per cent decline suffered in March 2020 due to the pandemic.

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