Despite many challenges, including issues like protectionism adopted by some developed countries, India’s exports this fiscal will witness a record high.

“Given the export growth till now, I am confident that the number that we reach in the end will be a record growth — in both dollar and rupee terms,” Commerce Secretary Anup Wadhwan said. The Government has set an export target of $350 billion for the current financial year while the peak number was achieved in 2013-14 with exports of $318 billion.

In the face of challenges, there were some concerns from exporters on issues like credit availability. They sought enhancement of export promotion measures. “We will certainly consider those,” he told newspersons after addressing an interactive session with exporters organised by the Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO).

Wadhwan said the export ecosystem in the region, especially in Tamil Nadu, is healthy. Export growth both at the country level and at Tamil Nadu level has been very encouraging and the State is a key partner in achieving export-related goals. The State has been growing at double-digit rate for over a decade and exports at around 10 per cent. The economy and export basket have increasingly become sophisticated over a period of time.

Tamil Nadu exporters have diversified bundle of goods and services, including agriculture products, marine products, automobile, auto parts and IT services.

During the meeting, exporters had raised issues involving bank credit. “We will work with agencies concerned to ensure that,” he said. There was a request for enhanced benefits under certain schemes given the challenging global environment.

There is growing protectionism in some developed countries which are unilaterally raising duties, often in violation of WTO obligations. There is also the challenge of a very fragile recovery from the global downturn that started in 2008-09, he said.

“We have used our right to impose duties to meet our developmental interests just as all the countries in the world have used their rights in the past. There is no conscious or large scheme that we have to do any protectionist measures. WTO obligations will do what is necessary for India to meet its developmental goals,” he said.

A Sakthivel, Regional Chairman, FIEO (Southern Region), said though the September export data show a marginal negative growth due to high base effect last year, the aggregate value of exports during the month was much more than in April, June and July — that recorded as high as 17 per cent growth. “I am sure, we will reach the milestone of $350 billion targeted for this year,” he said.

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