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Press releases April, 2007
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 Press Releases
April,
2007 |
Press Information Bureau
Government of
India
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Date
Release
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30th
April 2007 |
MARKET ACCESS
FOR INDIAN MANGOES TO DEVELOPED COUNTRIES –
A BREAKTHROUGH, SAYS KAMAL NATH
NEED TO FOCUS ON INFRASTRUCTURE AND TECHNOLOGY
KAMAL NATH GIVES AWAY APEDA EXPORT AWARDS FOR 2005-06
New Delhi:
April 30, 2007
Shri Kamal Nath, Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, has called the
market access made available to Indian mangoes recently by US and
Japan as a major
breakthrough that augurs well for Indian agro product exports. He
hoped that Indian mangoes will gain popularity over the South American and
Mexican varieties presently available in the US market on account of
better taste, aroma and flavour. While giving away the APEDA (Agricultural Processed
Food Products Export Development Authority) Annual Export Awards at a
function here today, Shri Kamal Nath stated that agro exports are a thrust
area for development and promotion. On this occasion, Shri
Kamal Nath gave away the Golden Trophy to Allanasons Limited, Mumbai and
awarded the silver and bronze trophies and certificates of merit to other
exporters. He complimented all awardees for their excellent efforts
to promote agro exports. Shri G.K. Pillai, Commerce Secretary and
Shri K.S. Money, Chairman, APEDA also addressed the function.
The Minister highlighted the need for infusion of new technology and
capital in agriculture to enable India to harness the untapped potential
in agro exports.
“Cold chain infrastructure has been the missing link in the process
of agriculture, post-harvest storage and transportation in
India. Supply
chain from production clusters to the markets needs to be strengthened
including grading, pre-cooling, packaging, storage and marketing of fresh
farm produce. The
organized retail both in fresh and processed food products which has
started taking shape in the metros and other large cities needs to be
extended to other towns as well. The FDI by leading global players
for strengthening the backward linkages and infrastructure including cold
chain can provide a boost to processing and help in reducing wastage of
fruits and vegetables. This will ensure better returns to the farmers for
their produce”, Shri Kamal Nath said.
Shri Nath highlighted the importance of adhering to food safety and
international standards for trading in food products. He
complemented APEDA for encouraging the adoption of quality certification
systems like ISO and HACCP amongst its registered exporters.
“The Government has introduced an integrated food law, which is
expected to help in making the Indian food industry more competitive in
the global market. It intends to set up a single line of command
from the present multi-level and multi-departmental control. There will be
a single reference point for all matters relating to food safety and
standards, regulations and enforcements”, he said.
Agro exports constitute about 9.3% of the total merchandise exports of the
country. Total agro exports through APEDA in 2005-06 was
Rs.17,918 crores compared to Rs.16,828 crore in 2004-05.
**************
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30th
April 2007 |
NORWEGIAN MINISTER URGES
NOVARTIS TO WITHDRAW CASE AGAINST INDIA
New Delhi: April 30, 2007
The Norwegian Minister of International
Development, Mr. Erik Solheim,has urged Novartis to withdraw its case
against India.
In a letter to Mr. Daniel Vasella, Managing
Director, Chairman and CEO of Novartis International AG in Switzerland,
the Norwegian Minister, who is deeply engaged in efforts to fight poverty
and in achieving the UN Millennium Development Goals, has said:
"India contributes in very significant ways to the overall production
capacity for life saving generic drugs, with major exports to developing
countries. It is important for global health that this
contribution can continue. I, therefore, strongly
encourage you to seek a solution in the current case that adequately
address these concerns. I will encourage you to consider to
withdraw your case against India".
He has underlined that there is a shared
interest in a universal, rule-based, open, non-discriminatory and
multilateral trading system that, at the same time, can support global
health security. "Building in public health safeguards in
national patent laws to ensure that patents do not limit access to
medicines is a right of every country. The cost of innovation cannot be
borne by countries and people with the weakest economic capacity".
"Health is one of the most important
long-term international challenges of our time. Life and
health are our most precious assets. Investment in health is
fundamental to economic growth and development. Therefore, international
trade policies and agreements need to be placed within the context of
protecting and promoting health and well-being.. Global health security is
depending on each country having the capacity to safeguard public health",
the letter adds.
________________
* Novartis has filed a case in
Chennai High Court challenging the clause of the Indian Patent (Amendment)
Act, which does not grant patents to medicines, which are new forms of an
existing drug or "ever-greened" rather than innovations. The
Patent Office in Chennai in February 2006 refused to give patent to the
Novartis leukemia drug called Gleevec on the grounds that it was "ever
greened".
**************
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27th
April 2007 |
New Delhi: April 27, 2007
Trade between
India and
Pakistan has shown enormous buoyancy and is expected to cross US $ 1.5
billion (US $ 1500 million) in 2006-07.
Exports to Pakistan in April-December (2006-07) stood at US $ 980.33
million while imports were US $ 247.48 million during the same period.
A business delegation led by Muhammad Nasir Khan, President of
Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry, called on Shri Kamal Nath,
Union Minister of Commerce & Industry, here this evening and expressed
hope that the economic ties between the two countries would strengthen in
the near future to benefit both countries.
Shri
Kamal Nath highlighted the many benefits that could accrue to both India
and Pakistan if trade relations improve, as it would make both countries
more competitive in an increasingly globalised economy. He expressed
hope that Pakistan would grant the much awaited most favoured nation
status (MFN) to India and said that the segment of trade between two
nations that currently took place through third countries would then be
replaced by direct trade.
The
Pakistan delegation requested the Minister to ensure easing of visa regime
for Pakistani businessmen by the Indian government. Shri
Kamal Nath assured that Government of India was committed to strengthening
economic ties with its neighbour and this issue would also be taken care
of in due course.
The
main commodities of exports to Pakistan include sugar, dyes, plastic &
petroleum products and cotton while main import items from Pakistan are
petroleum & crude products, fruits & nuts (excluding cashew nuts), cotton
yarn & fabrics and organic chemicals.
**************
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26th
April 2007 |
EXPERT COMMITTEE ON
DEVELOPMENT OF SERVICE
PRICE INDEX CONSTITUTED
New Delhi:
April 26, 2007
Vaisakha 06,
1929
The
Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), Ministry of Commerce
& Industry has decided to constitute an Expert Committee to render
technical advice for development of Service Price Index (SPI) and its
related issues. The Committee shall be chaired
by Prof.C.P.Chandrasekhar, Centre for Economic Studies and Planning,
Jawaharlal Nehru University. Members of the Committee includes Dr.
B.N.Goldar, Institute of Economic Growth, DR.Nagesh Kumar, DG, Research &
Information System for Developing Countries, Dr.Tarun Das, Institute of
Integrated Learning in Management, DG, CSO, Ministry of Statistics and
Programme Implememtation, DG, NSSO, Ministry of Statistics and Programme
Implememtation, Principal Adviser, Deptt. Of Statistical Analysis &
Computer Services (RBI), Shri Tejinder Singh Laschar, Senior Economic
Adviser ( DIPP), Senior Economic Adviser, Department of Economic Affairs
(Ministry of Finance) & DG, Labour Bureau. Shri Manoranjan Senapaty,
Economic Adviser, DIPP shall be the Member Secretary. The terms of
reference of the Expert Committee includes to provide guidance in the
context of concept, methodology, scope/coverage, related aspects and other
important issues for the Services Sector Index; to render technical advice
for development of sector specific Service Price Index (SPI) and its
related issues, keeping in view best international practices; to examine
regular availability and sources of data for compilation of Service Price
Index; to scrutinize the sector specific studies/survey results and
suggest improvements and modifications; to oversee the inter-sectoral
consistency/uniformity with international standard and best practices; to
provide continuous guidance to the Office of the Economic Advisor in
actual construction of the Index; to oversee the process of evolution of
an integrated Service Price Index; to identify new priority sectors for
inclusion in construction of the Service Price Index, as and when a need
arises; to suggest institutional mechanism for collection of requisite
data for the Services Sector Index and also its periodical updation; to
suggest measures for capacity building and augmentation of infrastructural
facilities in the Office of the Economic Adviser.
*****
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25th
April 2007 |
PRICE
SPECTRUM BAND FOR 2006 ANNOUNCED FOR RUBBER, COFFEE & TEA
New Delhi:
April 25, 2007
The Price Stabilisation
Fund Trust, Department of Commerce, Government of India has announced the
Price Spectrum Band for the year 2006 for Rubber, Coffee and Tea. The
Price Spectrum Band for each commodity has been calculated on the basis of
Seven Years’ Moving average of International price for the commodity. The
annual average domestic price for Tea was Rs. 63.62/kg during 2006
and it has been categorised as ‘Normal Year” for Tea. The annual average
domestic price for Coffee Arabica during 2006 was Rs. 109.84/kg and
it has been categorised as ‘Boom Year” for Coffee Arabica. The annual
average domestic price for Coffee Robusta was Rs. 63.02/kg during
2006 and it has been categorised as ‘Boom Year” for Coffee Robusta.
The annual average domestic price for Rubber was Rs. 87.83/kg during
2006 and it has been categorised as ‘Boom Year” for Rubber. As
no tobacco grower was enrolled under the scheme, Price Spectrum Band for
tobacco has not been fixed. On the basis of Price
Spectrum Band 2006, 14928 Tea growers would receive financial
assistance of Rs. 74.64 lakh from the PSF Trust during 2007-08.
The Department of
Commerce, Government of India had launched the Price Stabilisation Fund
Scheme in April 2003 for the benefit of growers of Tea, Coffee, Natural
Rubber and Tobacco. The objective of the Price Stabilisation Fund Scheme
is to provide financial relief to the growers when the prices of these
commodities fall below a specified level. The scheme is based on the
principle of contribution from the growers and from the Government
depending upon boom / normal / distress years, with a provision for
withdrawal by the growers during the distress year. The contribution of
the participant grower as well as that of the Government is credited to
the savings bank account of the participant grower opened for this purpose
with a nationalized bank.
***
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20th
April 2007 |
AGRO EXPORTS
TO BE THE FOCUS AREA FOR FUTURE: KAMAL NATH
GOVERNMENT LOOKING AT THE POSSIBILITY OF SETTING UP FOOD PARKS
FDI INFLOWS OF US $ 25 BILLION TARGETTED FOR 2007-08
New Delhi: April 20, 2007
Shri Kamal Nath, Union
Minister for Commerce & Industry, while addressing two separate
interactive sessions on the Annual Supplement to the Foreign Trade Policy
with Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) &
Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) here today stated that agricultural
exports including fruits and vegetables will be the next area for growth
for Indian exports. “Our great area in future will be in the field of
agriculture exports”, he said. The Minister highlighted the need to
strengthen the infrastructure in the post-harvest stage to benefit from
the opportunities in this area. Shri Nath informed that the Government is
looking at the possibility of setting up Food Parks and would provide the
necessary assistance in this regard. He also referred to his recent visit
to China and pointed out the great potential for agro-exports that China
may provide. “I have taken upon myself that in the next few months Chinese
markets will open to the Indian agricultural exports”, Shri Nath said.
The Minister also pointed
out the significance of the record US dollar 16 billion Foreign Direct
Investment (FDI) recorded in 20006-07 and said the country would continue
to attract more investments. “I have targeted FDI for 2007-08 at US
dollar 25 billion”, he said.
Responding to questions
from the industry representatives, he agreed that a lot needs to be done
to improve the infrastructure and the Government was committed to address
the issue. To a question pertaining to the Governments policy on Special
Economic Zones (SEZs), Shri Nath stated that the real issue in SEZs is
not the number of SEZs but the number of units set up in the SEZs. He
stated that since it was not possible to have mega-sized SEZs in India as
in case of China it is therefore necessary that India has a higher number
of SEZs to bring about rapid industrialization and to give momentum to
exports. “If we have limits on the size of SEZs, we cannot limit the
number of SEZs”, he said. The Minister reiterated that the Government
is committed to ensure that land acquisition for the purpose of SEZs is
done in a fair and transparent manner.
Meanwhile, Shri Kamal Nath
announced that the Ministry would hold two open
houses in the coming days at which the exporters and the industry
representatives could discuss their specific concerns and problems if any,
related to the Foreign Trade Policy Supplement announced yesterday before
the necessary notifications are issued.
*****
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19th
April 2007 |
MAJOR INITIATIVES TO GIVE FURTHER MOMENTUM TO EXPORT GROWTH
ANNOUNCED AS INDIA’S EXPORTS TOUCH RECORD US $ 125 BILLION MARK
EXPORT TARGET
OF US $ 160 BILLION SET FOR 2007-08 – EXPORTS ENVISAGED TO RISE TO US $
200 BILLION IN 2008-09
QUANTUM
INCREASE IN FDI INFLOW AT US $ 16 BILLION in 2006-07 – RECORD 725%
INCREASE IN INFLOWS IN THREE YEARS -- POSITIVE TRENDS IN DIRECTIONAL
FLOW OF FDI INTO MANUFACTURING AND EXPORTS
MASSIVE
THRUST ON INCENTIVISING AGRI EXPORTS AND AGRO PROCESSING INFRASTRUCTURE TO
CATALYSE EXPORTS FOR MORE INCLUSIVE GROWTH
VISHESH KRISHI AND GRAM
UDYOG YOJANA EXPANDED TO NEW AGRI PRODUCTS
FOCUS
PRODUCTS AND FOCUS MARKET SCHEME ENLARGED
EXPORTS
EXEMPTED FROM SERVICE TAX
THRUST ON
HANDLOOM, HANDICRAFTS, GEMS & JEWELLERY
DEPB EXTENDED
UPTO 31/03/2008 – STAKEHOLDERS ASKED TO GIVE THEIR VIEWS FOR NEW SCHEME BY
MAY 31
NEW
EXPORT PROMOTION SCHEME LAUNCHED FOR HI-TECH PRODUCTS
EASING OF EXPORT OBLIGATION FULFILMENT UNDER EPCG
SCHEME
MEASURES FOR
EOU AND SEZ UNITS
MAJOR
STREAMLINING AND SIMPLIFICATION OF PROCEDURES TO CUT TRANSACTION COSTS
KAMAL NATH
UNVEILS ANNUAL SUPPLEMENT TO FOREIGN TRADE POLICY
New Delhi:
April 19, 2007
Shri Kamal Nath, Union Minister of Commerce & Industry, today unveiled
the Annual Supplement 2007 to the Foreign Trade Policy 2004-09 with a
slew of major initiatives to impart further momentum to India’s exports
which have touched a record figure of US $ 125 billion (US $ 124.65
billion rounded off) during 2006-07. Announcing the Annual
Supplement at a press conference here, the Minister said that India’s
merchandise
exports had almost doubled in three years – from US $ 63.84 billion in
2004 to US $ 125 billion, representing an annual compounded growth of
25% compared to 12.73% in the previous three years. During this period,
India’s share of world trade had also moved from 0.76% to more than 1%,
with incremental exports in the last three years creating 75 lakh
additional jobs.
In this background, the Minister announced a merchandise export target
of US $ 160 billion for this fiscal (2007-08) and US $ 200 billion for
2008-09. “This
upward revision in our goal – up from US $ 150 billion envisaged earlier –
should not be difficult to attain, given our strong economic fundamentals,
the entrepreneurship of our exporting community and the collective resolve
of government and trade & industry”, Shri Kamal Nath said.
Stating that a liberal export policy had a direct effect on foreign direct
investment (FDI) flows and that the two were closely inter-linked, Shri
Kamal Nath announced that FDI (equity) inflows had gone up to almost US $
16 billion from US $ 5.5 billion in the previous year. The
last three years had seen a staggering 725% increase in FDI inflows up
from US $ 2.22 billion in 2003-04 to US $ 16 billion in 2006-07, he said,
adding that the directional flow of FDI into manufacturing and export of
goods and services was contributing immensely to the country’s export
efforts.
Announcing a series of measures to boost exports of agricultural products
from India, Shri Kamal Nath said that the scope of Vishesh Krishi and Gram
Udyog Yojana (VKGUY) was being expanded, to include exports of value-added
variants of several agricultural and forest products including
coconut oil,
soyabean oil, potato flakes, meals & flours, cardamom, food preparations
like soups, sauces, artistic wooden furniture, herbal extracts of forest
products, malt and minor forest produce, etc.
A new scheme for incentivising agro processing has been introduced with
status holders being rewarded with duty credit scrips equal to 10% 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, etc. “I lay the
highest emphasis on developing agricultural exports to ensure that product
diversification improves in Indian agriculture. As we all know, we have
widespread subsistence farming which has to move towards producing
marketable surpluses, be it for domestic or export markets”, Shri Kamal
Nath said.
The
twin schemes of Focus Product and Focus Market have been enlarged to give
a push to exports as well as employment. Not only are new
products being included in the Focus Product Scheme (Mica and its
variants, barley, oats, soyabean, cigar/cheroots, bovine fats and copra)
but also the allocation for the Scheme is being increased by more than 50%
from the existing Rs.650 crore to Rs.1000 crore. Also, 16 new countries
including 10 CIS countries are being included under the Focus Market
Scheme. The 16 countries are: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus,
Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikstan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine,
Uzbekistan, El Salvador, Dominican republic, Guatemala, Trinidad & Tobago,
Serbia & Montenegro and Uruguay.
Giving a special focus on handloom and handicrafts industry, Shri Kamal
Nath announced that exemption from duty is being granted on the machinery
and equipment needed for effluent treatment plants required by handloom
and handicraft industries, to enable these sectors to meet environmental
and other standards abroad. In a similar measure to further support
the cottage and the tiny industrial sector, the export obligation
period under EPCG Scheme for them is being increased from 8 to 12 years.
Providing a further push to export thrust sectors, the Minister announced
duty free import of tools, machinery and equipments for handicrafts and
gem & jewellery sectors. To facilitate the certification of
diamonds as a pre-requisite to ensuring quality and competitiveness of
exports, the testing facility at Dubai has been included in the approved
list of certifying agencies.
To encourage
high technology exports
Shri Kamal Nath announced a new scheme
providing 10% duty free benefit on incremental exports subject to a
ceiling of Rs.15 crores for each firm/company. The list of products
to be covered under high technology exports will be notified shortly
in consultation with concerned administrative ministries.
In a major initiative to facilitate export of services from India, Shri
Kamal Nath announced that all services rendered abroad and charged on
exports from India would henceforth be exempted from payment of service
tax. “This was a long pending demand of our exporting community and
I am happy to be able to accede to it. Similarly, service tax on
services rendered in India, but utilized by exports would be exempted
or remitted. A remission mechanism, where exemption is not available, is
being put in place in consultation with Department of Revenue”, he said.
To
enhance competitiveness of Indian exports, Shri Kamal Nath also announced
rebating of customs duty on fuel and the 4% special additional duty
for non-Cenvatable sectors under the Duty Entitlement Pass Book (DEPB)
scheme. Stating that the DEPB scheme stands extended for
another year upto 31/03/2008, Shri Kamal Nath asked all stakeholders
especially Export Promotion Councils (EPCs) and Commodity Boards to give
their views to the DGFT by May 31, 2007 to enable a new scheme to take its
place by next year.
The Export Promotion Capital Goods (EPCG) scheme has been
modified to make it user friendly, transparent and easy to administer.
The tiny and cottage industry which has been adversely hit by rupee
appreciation has been given 12 years time to complete the export
obligation instead of normal period of 8 years.
Spares, tools, refractory would now be allowed under EPCG scheme for the
existing plant and machinery also which may not have been imported under
EPCG. This will help the industry to modernise and upgrade the production
facility.
With a view to reward performers, the average exports
under EPCG scheme has been rationalised. Wherever more than one
EPCG authorization are issued concurrently, fresh EPCG authorization would
be based upon last required average exports notwithstanding the actual
achievement.
With a view to simplify monitoring of export obligation, block-wise
fulfillment of export obligation has been dispensed with.
The export obligation under EPCG, which was hitherto based on the past
exports of the products for which EPCG authorisation was being claimed,
would now be based on the average exports of the firm/company. This will
generate additional exports for the country and would encourage units to
add to their existing exports.
In
cases where exporter is unable to fulfil the export obligation because of
force majeure or other unforeseen circumstances, waiving of export
obligation would be considered.
The EPCG holder will now have the option to submit a certificate either
from Chartered Engineer or Jurisdictional Excise Authority regarding
installation of capital goods imported under EPCG scheme.
In order to increase exports from 100% Export Oriented Units (EOUs),
benefit of Focus Market Scheme, Focus Products Scheme and Vishesh Krishi
and Gram Yojana Scheme have been extended to those EOUs which are not
availing Direct Tax benefits. More than Rs.150 crores has been
released for settlement of pending Central Sales Tax (CST) claims of EOUs.
In case of any delay in the disbursement of CST, the Development
Commissioner would be providing interest on such delayed disbursement with
effect from 1.4.2006.
100% EOUs are entitled from exemption from income tax on the goods
manufactured and exported from the EOUs under Section 10B of the Income
Tax Act. A number of instances were reported wherein this benefit was
being denied by the Income Tax authorities by raising the doubts whether
the activity amounts to manufacturing or not. To remove this uncertainty,
definition of manufacturing was being incorporated under the Income Tax
Act, the Minister said.
The developer and co-developer of the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) would be
entitled to the benefit of all duty exemption and remission schemes like
advance authorization scheme, DEPB and Duty Free Import Authorisation (DFIA).
On SEZs, the Minister said: “92
SEZs have been notified till date and 50 of these are at various stages of
implementation. Over 18,000 direct jobs have already been
created and it is expected that as many as 1.5 million jobs would be
created in the SEZs already approved”.
In a
major effort to reduce the high transaction cost faced by exporters, Shri
Kamal Nath that the existing procedures under various export promotion
schemes had been simplified considerably with a view to achieving
transparency, accountability and bringing down transaction costs.
“Aayat Niryat form for all schemes has been thoroughly reworked out. The
repetitive and not so relevant informations have been dispensed with.
The revised Aayat Niryat form is being notified simultaneously.
Similar exercise will be carried out for all other forms.
Transaction time is sought to be reduced further through Electronic Data
Interchange (EDI) system. The verification at the Customs end has
already been dispensed with for the Duty Entitlement Pass Book Scheme.
This facility is now being extended to EPCG and the Advance Authorization
Scheme as well”, he said.
*************
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19th
April 2007 |
FDI INFLOWS INTO INDIA TOUCH A RECORD HIGH
New Delhi:
April 19, 2007
Announcing a record high of FDI (equity) inflows in India while announcing
the Annual Supplement to the Foreign Trade Policy (2004-09) here today,
Shri Kamal Nath, Minister of Commerce & Industry, said:
“I
must mention here about the robust growth in our Foreign Direct
Investment. A liberal Trade Policy has a direct effect on FDI flows
and the two are closely inter-related. The year 2006-07 has seen our
FDI equity inflow go up to almost US$ 16 billion from US$ 5.5 billion in
the previous year – almost tripling of the inflows in one year. The
last three years of our Government has seen a staggering 725% increase in
FDI inflows – up from US$ 2.22 billion in 2003-04 to US$ 16 billion in
2006-07! In line with the international practice of including the
retained earnings reinvested, our FDI touches US$ 19 billion in 2006-07,
constituting 2.3% of our GDP. This is about 6.8% of the gross capital
formation or gross investment in the economy. I am sure, you would
agree, that this is quantum jump compared to only 0.5% of GDP and about
1.5% of gross investment three years ago. The directional flow of
FDI into manufacturing and export of goods and services is contributing
immensely to our export efforts”.
**********
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19th
April 2007 |
STATUS HOLDER SCHEME REVAMPED
New Delhi: April 19,
2007
Responding to the demand of the status holders, Shri Kamal Nath, Minister
of Commerce & Industry, has re-christened them as Export House (earlier
known as One Star Export House), Star Export House (earlier known as Two
Star Export House), Trading House (earlier known as Three Star Export
House), Star Trading House (earlier known as Four Star Export House), and
Premier Trading House (earlier known as Five Star Export House). They
will be granted such status on achieving aggregate exports of Rs.20 crore,
Rs.100 crore, Rs.500 crore, Rs.2500 crore and Rs.10000 crore respectively
over a period of four years.
Backgrounder on Status Holders / Star Export Houses
Merchant as well as
Manufacturer Exporters, Service Providers, Export Oriented Units (EOUs)
and Units located in SEZs, Agri Export Zones (AEZs), Electronic Hardware
Technology Parks (EHTP), Software Technology Parks (STPs), and Bio
Technology Parks (BTPs), are eligible for applying for status as Star
Export Houses. Under this scheme, the applicants are granted the
status depending on the total FOB / FOR export performance during the
current plus previous three years as follows:
|
Old category |
Earlier performance
criteria (Rs. Crore) |
New category |
New performance
criteria (Rs. Crore) |
|
One Star Export House |
15 |
Export House |
20 |
|
Two Star Export House |
100 |
Star Export House |
100 |
|
Three Star Export
House |
500 |
Trading House |
500 |
|
Four Star Export House |
1500 |
Star Trading House |
2500 |
|
Five Star Export House |
5000 |
Premier Trading House |
10000 |
*********
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19th
April 2007 |
HIGHLIGHTS
ANNUAL SUPPLEMENT 2007 TO FOREIGN TRADE POLICY (2004-09)
New Delhi:
April 19, 2007
·
A FIVE-YEAR
FOREIGN TRADE POLICY REGIME WAS ANNOUNCED BY THE COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY
MINISTER, MR KAMAL NATH IN THE YEAR 2004. STABILITY OF TRADE POLICY
REGIME HAS YIELDED VERY POSITIVE RESULTS AND IN THE THREE YEARS SINCE
THEN, INDIA’S MERCHANDISE EXPORTS HAVE ALMOST DOUBLED. INDIA’S SHARE OF
WORLD TRADE HAS MOVED FROM 0.76% TO ABOVE 1%.
·
INCREMENTAL
EXPORTS IN LAST 3 YEARS HAVE CREATED ADDITIONAL 75 LAKHS JOBS.
·
CONSISTENT
GROWTH KEPT PACE WITH TARGET. EXPORTS TOUCHED US$ 125 BILLION DURING LAST
FINANCIAL YEAR.
·
EXPORT
TARGET FOR 2007-08 FIXED AT US$ 160 BILLION, TO BE RAISED TO US$ 200
BILLION FOR 2008-09.
·
CURRENT
ANNUAL SUPPLEMENT TO FTP AIMS TO PROVIDE FURTHER MOMENTUM TO EXPORTS
GROWTH. CHANGES INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING MAJOR INITIATIVES:-
Ø
ENCOURAGEMENT TO AGRO EXPORTS AND EMPLOYMENT GENERATION IN THE AGRICULTURE
SECTOR.
Ø
NEW
INITIATIVE FOR INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT NAMELY COLD STORAGE UNITS, PACK
HOUSES, REEFER VANS/CONTAINERS, ETC., FOR AGRO SECTOR, IS BEING LAUNCHED.
Ø
IN LINE
WITH THE GOVERNMENT OBJECTIVE OF HAVING ALL INCLUSIVE GROWTH, VISHESH
KRISHI AND GRAM UDYOG YOJANA SCHEME EXPANDED FURTHER TO INCLUDE FOREST
BASED AND AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS.
Ø
A NEW
SCHEME TO GIVE IMPETUS TO EXPORTS OF HIGH TECH PRODUCTS, IS BEING
LAUNCHED. EXPORTS OF SPECIFIED HIGH TECH PRODUCTS ARE PROPOSED
TO BE REWARDED.
Ø
LONG
STANDING MAJOR GRIEVANCE OF TRADE IS BEING ADDRESSED BY PROVIDING SERVICE
TAX EXEMPTION/REMISSION ON SERVICES RENDERED IN INDIA AND UTILISED BY
EXPORTERS. THIS SHOULD BRING CHEERS TO THE EXPORTING FRATERNITY.
Ø
IN LINE WITH
THE GOVERNMENT APPROACH TO ADDRESS GENUINE GRIEVANCES, SERVICES RENDERED
ABROAD AND CHARGED ON EXPORTS FROM INDIA TO BE EXEMPTED FROM SERVICE TAX.
Ø
FOR
EFFECTIVELY ENSURING ALL INCLUSIVE GROWTH FOR FARMERS AND TRIBALS, FOCUS
PRODUCTS SCHEME EXPANDED FURTHER TO INCLUDE NEW AGRO AND FOREST PRODUCTS.
Ø
FOR
DIVERSIFYING EXPORTS TO TAP HITHERTO UNEXPLORED MARKETS, SCOPE OF FOCUS
MARKET SCHEME IS BEING EXPANDED TO INCLUDE 16 NEW COUNTRIES INCLUDING 10
CIS COUNTRIES,
Ø
EXPORTS AND
EMPLOYMENT IN HANDLOOM AND HANDICRAFT SECTORS PROVIDED FURTHER PUSH
THROUGH DUTY FREE ACCESS TO MACHINERY AND EQUIPMENT FOR EFFLUENT TREATMENT
PLANTS.
Ø
TO SHARPEN
CORE STRENGTH OF PROMISING GEMS AND JEWELLERY SECTORS AND HANDICRAFT
SECTOR, DUTY FREE ACCESS TO TOOLS, MACHINERY AND EQUIPMENT PROPOSED TO BE
PROVIDED TO GIVE THEM COMPETITIVE EDGE.
Ø
EXPORT OF
RHODIUM POLISHED SILVER JEWELLERY TO BE ENCOURAGED FURTHER.
Ø
TO REDUCE
TRANSACTION COST FOR DIAMOND SECTOR, TESTING FACILITY AT DUBAI
INCORPORATED IN THE LIST OF CERTIFYING AGENCIES.
Ø
EMPLOYMENT,
MANUFACTURING AND VALUE ADDITIONS IN THE EOU SCHEME TO BE ENCOURAGED
FURTHER BY EXTENDING THE BENEFIT OF FOCUS PRODUCTS, FOCUS MARKET, AND
VISHESH KRISHI AND GRAM UDYOG YOJANA SCHEME.
Ø
MAJOR
SIMPLIFICATION ATTEMPTED THROUGH FINE TUNING OF EXISTING PROCEDURES UNDER
VARIOUS SCHEMES FOR TRANSPERANCY, ACCOUNTABILITY, AND REDUCING TRANSACTION
TIME.
Ø
EFFORTS TO
BE MADE TO PROVIDE TIMELY DISBURSEMENT OF CENTRAL SALES TAX, DUTY
DRAWBACK, AND TERMINAL EXCISE DUTY. IN CASE OF ANY DELAY,
INTEREST TO BE PROVIDED WITH EFFECT FROM 1.4.2006.
Ø
EXPORTERS
AFFECTED BY FORCE MAJEURE OR OTHER UNFORESEEN CIRCUMSTANCES/REASONS, TO BE
PROVIDED MORE TIME FOR COMPLETING THEIR EXPORT OBLIGATION.
Ø
FOR
ENCOURAGING PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT & DIVERSIFICATION FOR COMPETING IN THE
INTERNATIONAL MARKET, THE LIMIT FOR DUTY FREE IMPORT OF SAMPLES INCREASED
TO RS.75,000/-
Ø
RATIONALISATION IN THE THRESHOLD CRITERIA AND RE-CLASSIFICATION OF STATUS
HOLDER SCHEME.
Ø
DUTY ON FUEL
AND 4% SPECIAL ADDITIONAL DUTY TO BE FACTORED IN THE DEPB SCHEME
Ø
EPCG SCHEME
REVAMPED TO ACHIEVE SIMPLIFICATION AND MAKE IT USER FRIENDLY.
Ø
BENEFIT OF
ALL DUTY EXEMPTION AND REMISSION SCHEMES SUCH AS ADVANCE AUTHORISATION
SCHEME, DEPB AND DFIA EXTENDED TO THE SUPPLY OF GOODS TO DEVELOPER AND
CO-DEVELOPER OF THE SPECIAL ECONOMIC ZONES.
Ø
VERIFICATION
AT CUSTOMS DISPENSED WITH UNDER EPCG AND ADVANCE AUTHORIZATION SCHEME.
*******
SB/NR/MRS
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19th
April 2007 |
New Delhi:
April 19, 2007
FTP
Refers to
Foreign Trade Policy, announced by the Commerce & Industry Minister on 31st
August, 2004. It is a 5-year Policy (2004-2009), which
provides a stable policy framework. The Annual Supplements 2005 and 2006
to the Foreign Trade Policy (2004-09) announced by the Commerce & Industry
Minister in April, 2005 and 2006 were effective from 1st April,
2005, and 1st April, 2006 respectively. Likewise, the
Annual Supplement announced by the Commerce & Industry Minister on 19
April, 2007 will be effective from 1st April, 2007.
Exim
Policy
Refers to Export and Import (Exim) Policy. Exim Policy got
incorporated into the comprehensive Foreign Trade Policy, which was
announced by the Commerce & Industry Minister on 31st August,
2004.
DGFT
Directorate General of Foreign Trade, which is headed by the Director
General of Foreign Trade. The office of the DGFT is responsible for
formulating and execution of Foreign Trade Policy, including licensing.
Formerly (till 1991), was known as the Chief Controller of Imports &
Exports (CCI&E).
EPZs/EOUs
EPZ means Export Processing Zones which are special enclaves, separated
from the Domestic Tariff Area (DTA), to provide an internationally
competitive duty-free environment for export production. EOU means Export
Oriented Units. The EOU scheme is complementary to the EPZ scheme, except
that it is widely dispersed in location, unlike EPZs, which are set up at
specific locations.
SEZ
Refers to Special Economic Zones.
Following the SEZ Act 2005 and the SEZ Rules 2006, the number of SEZs
notified has been 63 and number of formal approvals 234.
Investment of Rs.53561 crore and 15,75,452 additional jobs are expected to
be generated by the 63 notified SEZs by December 2009. Incentives
and facilities offered to units in SEZs for promotion of investment,
including foreign direct investment, include duty-free import/domestic
procurement of goods for development, operation and maintenance of SEZ
units, 100% income tax exemption for SEZ units under Section 10-AA of the
Income Tax Act for the first 5 years, 50% for next 5 years and 50% of the
ploughed back export profit for next 5 years, exemption from Central Sales
Tax, exemption from Service Tax and single window clearance mechanism for
establishment of units etc.
FTWZ
Free Trade
and Warehousing Zone, a new scheme announced in the Foreign Trade Policy.
AEZs
Refers to a
scheme of Agricultural Export Zones.
BTP
BTP means
Biotechnology Park as notified by Director General of Foreign Trade on the
recommendation of the Department of Biotechnology
STP
STP means Software Technology Park
E-Commerce
Refers to
electronic commerce. In the context of Foreign Trade Policy,
e-commerce relates to electronic filing and processing of applications
etc.
EPCG
EPCG refers to the Export Promotion Capital Goods (EPCG)
Scheme, which gives the manufacturer facility for import of capital goods
for export production at concessional rate of duty (5 per cent) against
certain level of export obligation over a period of time.
Duty
Exemption
Scheme/Duty
Free Import
of Inputs
Allows duty-free import of inputs for exports under Advance Licence,
Duty Entitlement Pass Book (DEPB) and Duty Free Replenishment
Certificate (DFRC) Scheme.
Duty
Credit
Refers to import duty credit. For
example, under the Focus Market Scheme, if an exporter exports to an
identified country Rs.100 worth of goods, he will get 2.5% of Rs.100 on
export
of all
products
to the notified countries, which he can either use to pay customs duty on
his imported inputs or sell in the market as these scrips would be freely
transferable. Similarly, under the Focus Product Scheme, duty
credit facility at the rate of 2.5% of f.o.b. value of exports on 50% of
export turnover of
notified
products
would be allowed.
Advance
Licence
Advance Licence is granted
for import of inputs without payment of customs
duties. It is issued in accordance with the Policy and
procedures in force and subject to
fulfilment of time-bound export obligation. Such licences can be issued
for import of inputs
for use in the export production as well as for replenishment of the
inputs already used in
the export product.
DEPB
Refers to the Duty Entitlement Pass Book to neutralise the incidence of
basic customs duty on the import content of export product. This is
provided by way of grant of duty credit against the export product at
specified rates. The DEPB Scheme which was notified on 1/4/1997 consisted
of (a) Post-export DEPB and (b) Pre-export DEPB. The pre-export DEPB
scheme was abolished w.e.f. 1/4/2000. Under the post-export DEPB, which is
issued after exports, the exporter is given a duty entitlement Pass Book
at a pre-determined credit on the FOB value. The DEPB allows import of any
items except the items which are otherwise restricted for imports.
Input-Output
Norms
The norms which define the amount of input/inputs
required to
manufacture
a unit
of output.
DFRC
Refers to the
Duty Free Replenishment Certificate Scheme which was introduced from
1/4/2000 replacing Transferable Advance Licensing Scheme. The scheme is
available to merchant exporters as well as to manufacturer exporters.
However, it covers only items which are covered under standard
input-output norms notified by DGFT.
DFIA
Duty Free Import Authorisation
Deemed
Exports
Refers to those transactions in which the goods supplied do not
leave the country and the payment for the goods is received by the
supplier in India.
FoB
FoB means Free on Board -- i.e., when an exporter delivers goods "free on
board", he pays all charges involved in getting them actually onto the
ship.
NFE
Refers to Net Foreign Exchange. Net Foreign Exchange earning is calculated
as a percentage of exports (NFEP).
ISO-9000
Manufacturer
Exporter
Refers to international
standards, laid down by the International
StandardsOrganisation. Manufacturer-exporter
means a person who exports goods
manufactured by him or intends to export such goods.
Merchant
Exporter
Merchant-
Exporter means a person engaged in trading activities and
exporting
or intending to export goods.
One to
Five Star
Export
House
With a view
to building marketing infrastructure and expertise required for
export promotion, exporters with certain level of export performance are
conferred the status of One to Five Star Export House.
Status
Holders
An exporter recognised as One to Five Star Export House by DGFT/
Development Commissioner for the purpose of benefits and facilitation.
Registration-cum-
Membership
Registration-cum-Membership Certificate (RCMC) means a certification
of registration and membership granted to an exporter by an Export
Promotion Council (EPC) or other competent authority.
Certificate
Value
addition Value-
addition refers to the increment added in the process of
manufacture of a particular item, which also becomes part of its
price.
QRs
QRs mean
Quantitative Restrictions. QRs refer to specific limits imposed by
countries on the quantity or value of goods that can be imported or
exported. QRs are non-tariff measures which are taken to regulate or
prohibit international trade. QRs specifically refer to measures such as
licensing requirements for exports/imports; quotas, ceilings etc.
ITC
(HS)
Refers
to Indian Trade Classification (Harmonised System). It is a system of
classification of products for the purposes of export and import.
VKUJ
Vishesh
Krishi Upaj Yojana, a new scheme introduced in the Foreign Trade Policy
(2004-2009) as part of the package for agriculture.
SEPC
An exclusive
Services Export Promotion Council announced in the Foreign Trade Policy to
map opportunities for key services in key markets.
ICDs and
Inland Container Depots
CFS
Container Freight Stations
EDI
Electronic Data Interchange -- basically a trade facilitation
measure. DGFT is committed to simplifying procedures
relating to international trade and put in place an exporter friendly
regime for obtaining import authorisations and disbursement of
export-linked incentives.
******************
SB/NR/MRS
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19th
April 2007 |
Address by Shri Kamal Nath, Minister of Commerce & Industry
at the
release of Annual Supplement to the Foreign Trade Policy 2004-09
New Delhi – April 19,
2007
INTRODUCTION
1.
I am very happy to welcome all of you to the
release of the third Annual Supplement to the Foreign Trade Policy,
2004-09. Over the years, India’s foreign trade has come to occupy a
pivotal position in the economic scenario and prosperity of the country.
Exports are no longer means of generating dollars, as was the position in
the country during our initial phase of development. Now exports are
the engines of growth and the drivers of employment generation.
While the remarkable growth in exports which we have witnessed in recent
years has contributed immensely to the higher rates of economic growth
recorded in the country, our imports have helped modernize the Indian
industry and built capacities for enhanced production.
2.
Our Prime Minister has been a source of
guidance and constant encouragement for promoting India’s foreign trade.
I am encouraged by the efforts of our exporting community, which despite
the spiralling oil prices, strengthening of the Rupee and many other
constraints, have achieved the ambitious targets set by us in 2004. They
have demonstrated that they are as competitive and capable as the best in
the world. My sincere gratitude to the Prime Minister and
congratulations to the exporters.
TRADE PERFORMANCE
3.
When the UPA Government assumed office three
years ago, our merchandise exports were US$ 63.84 billion. In the year
ending March 2007, the exports surged to US$ 125 billion. This near
doubling in three years represents an annual compounded growth of 25%
compared to 12.73% in the previous three years. Our exports have
become globally competitive and found many new markets. Our export
basket is expanding with the addition of new items and this includes many
value added petroleum products produced by our oil refineries and petro-chemical
complexes. Our exports of machinery, instrumentation and engineering
goods grew by 35% last year. We are increasingly exporting
automobile components and becoming an international hub for automobile and
component making.
4.
With merchandise-imports growing faster than
exports of goods, we do have a trade deficit. But, taking into
account the export of services, the position improves substantially and
the trade gap in goods and services becomes much smaller and more
manageable. In fact, I find that our non-oil imports consist
significantly of capital goods, raw-materials and other critical inputs
which are required for sustaining our industrial growth, particularly the
manufacturing process. As the Minister in-charge of the Industry portfolio
also, I would consider this as a healthy development, which augurs well
for creation of production capacity and employment generation for the
future.
EXPORTS FOR MORE INCLUSIVE
GROWTH
5.
Working for a more inclusive growth process,
I am ensuring that the Foreign Trade Policy becomes a vehicle for faster
development of our rural areas and of agriculture, on which over 60% of
our people still depend for their livelihood. Exports of agriculture
products like spices, fruits and vegetables are growing rapidly at 35 to
40% annually.
·
Incentivising Agri exports
6.
Our ‘Vishesh Krishi and Gram Udyog Yojana’
(VKGUY) is being expanded to include coconut oil, soyabean oil, potato
flakes, meals and flours, cardamom, food preparations like soups, sauces,
pasta & bakery products, artistic wooden furniture, herbal extracts of
forest products, malt and minor forest produce, etc.
7.
I am also introducing a new Scheme for
incentivising agro processing with status holders being rewarded with duty
credit scrips equal to 10% 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, etc. Benefits under VKGUY would also be given to
such EOUs which do not avail direct tax benefits. I lay the highest
emphasis on developing agricultural exports to ensure that product
diversification improves in Indian agriculture. As we all know, we have
widespread subsistence farming which has to move towards producing
marketable surpluses, be it for domestic or export markets.
·
Enlarging Focus Product & Focus Market Schemes
8.
Buoyed with the success achieved by the Focus
Product Scheme (FPS), I am not only enlarging the items included under it,
but also increasing the allocation for it by more than 50% from the
existing level of Rs.650 crores to Rs.1000 crores. Mica and its
variants, barley, oats, soyabean, cigar/cheroots, bovine fats and copra
are being included under it. Also, 16 new countries including 10 CIS
countries are being included under the Focus Market Scheme (FMS).
·
Thrust
on Handloom, Handicrafts, Cottage and Tiny Industries
9.
Our handloom and handicraft industries will
receive a special focus in this year’s Trade Policy, and the new
initiative will provide for tools, machinery and equipment for handicrafts
within the present duty-free entitlement ceiling. This would allow
these rural-based activities to modernize and scale up operations to meet
the market challenges. Also, exemption from duty is being granted on
the machinery and equipment needed for effluent treatment plants required
by handloom and handicraft industries. In a similar measure to
further support the cottage and the tiny industrial sector, the export
obligation period under EPCG Scheme for them is being increased from 8 to
12 years.
10.
By enlarging and better funding, the VKGUY,
FPS, FMS, handloom and handicrafts and the cottage and tiny sectors, our
endeavour is to reach out to the over 650 million people who live in the
rural areas and whose lives have not been really touched by the process of
industrial and services led growth we are currently witnessing. I am
of the firm conviction that if our growth has to be sustainable over time,
it should not remain urban-centric or be confined to only a few cities and
their peripheral areas.
SECTOR-SPECIFIC
INITIATIVES
·
Gems &
Jewellery
11.
Sectors like gems and jewellery, which are in
the forefront of our export efforts, are being given greater attention in
the New Policy. Tools, machinery and equipment needed by it would be
covered within the present duty-free entitlement limit and keeping in view
the increase in global prices of precious metals, the duty-free
entitlement for consumables for export of rhodium plated finished silver
jewellery has been increased to 3% of FOB value of exports. To
ensure quality and competitiveness of our diamond exporters, we have
included the testing facility at Dubai in our approved list of Certifying
Agencies.
·
Export
of Services exempted from Service Tax
12.
With a view to facilitating the export of
services from India, all the services rendered abroad and charged on
exports from India would henceforth be exempted from payment of service
tax. This was a long pending demand of our exporting community and I
am happy to be able to accede to it. Similarly, service tax on
services rendered in India, but utilized by exports would be exempted or
remitted. A remission mechanism, where exemption is not available, is
being put in place in consultation with Department of Revenue.
13.
India’s IT sector had so far led the Business
Process Outsourcing (BPO) boom and made India one of the leading players
in export of services. With increasing competition in the BPO sector
emerging from China, East European countries and others, we need to evolve
new avenues for exports of services. Knowledge Process Outsourcing (KPO)
and Engineering Process Outsourcing (EPO) are fast emerging as the new
areas of opportunity. The current global EPO market is estimated at
2 to 3 per cent of the total global expenditure and is likely to become 5
per cent by 2010 and 9 to 10 per cent by 2015. Given our comparative
advantage in manpower, skills and design capabilities, we should aspire to
capture 20 to 25 per cent of the global market share. Several
initiatives in this regard would need to be taken, both at the Central and
State Government levels.
GENERAL EXPORT PROMOTION
SCHEMES
14.
Though the DEPB (Duty Entitlement Pass Book)
Scheme stands extended for another year upto 31.3.2008, I am aware of the
need to have a new scheme in its place by next year. I hope
that all stakeholders particularly Export Promotion Councils and Commodity
Boards would give their views to DGFT regarding the new scheme latest by
May 31, 2007.
15.
Realising the growing potential of India to
export high-tech items, an Export Promotion Scheme for them is being
launched under which a duty credit of 10% of incremental export growth
would be given as an incentive. The list of eligible products is
being drawn up in consultation with the concerned scientific Ministries.
16.
We have also been able to meet another
pending demand of the exporters, who would now become eligible for
reimbursement of cost of duty on Fuel and Special Additional Duty (SAD).
17.
I am also increasing the limit for duty free
import of samples from Rs.60,000 to Rs.75,000.
18.
Import of spares, tools, spare refractories
for all the existing imported plant and machinery would also be now
allowed under Export Promotion Capital Goods (EPCG) Scheme. This
should allow the manufacturers to replace and more optimally utilize their
machinery imported earlier.
19.
I am now doing away with the present
restrictive requirement of block-wise fulfillment of export obligations.
This should not only reduce transaction cost and paper work, but also
minimise the effect of cyclical fluctuations in international markets. I
am further directing that wherever more than one concurrent EPCG
authorization has been issued, the fresh EPCG authorization would build
upon the last required average export obligation only, notwithstanding the
actual achievements of the previous year. This way better
performance would not be penalized. Additionally, we are providing
for waiving the outstanding export obligations, where force majeure and
other unforeseen circumstances have prevented the fulfillment of the
export obligations.
20.
Developers and co-developers of SEZs would be
notified for benefits for duty neutralization under DEPB, DFIA (Duty Free
Import Authorization) and Advanced Authorization Schemes. Supplies
of accessories, such as buttons and hangers by EOUs to DTA units will be
counted for net foreign exchange calculations, if these items are exported
along with export product from DTA. With effect from 1st
April 2006, interest would be given on delays on effecting refund on
terminal excise duty, duty draw back on deemed exports and refund of CST
on supplies to EOUs. This would be similar to the facilities being given
on delays in customs and income tax refunds by the respective departments.
REDUCING TRANSACTION COSTS
& DELAYS
21.
I am fully aware that trade transaction costs
in India tend to be high and can erode our competitiveness. If we have to
continue to grow through the trade route, it is of utmost importance that
we streamline our procedure and processes and adopt global best practices,
including in port handling, customs clearances, and transportation
arrangements. To start with, the following measures are being
introduced to reduce the transaction costs:
Ø
Verification
of documents under various export promotion schemes would done in the same
manner as under DEPB, which has now been online for quite some time.
Second verification by the customs authorities under EPCG and advanced
authorization scheme would be resorted to only on random basis.
Ø
Installation
certificate on imported capital goods can now be obtained from a Chartered
Engineer instead instead of only from an Excise official.
Ø
The length
of the existing ‘Aayat Niryat Form’ has also been reduced substantially.
Ø
The word
‘manufacturing’ is being clearly defined in the new Income Tax Code to
ensure greater predictability and stability in determining direct tax
liability of domestic manufacturers.
TRADE POLICY & FOREIGN
DIRECT INVESTMENT
22.
I must mention here about the robust growth
in our Foreign Direct Investment. A liberal Trade Policy has a
direct effect on FDI flows and the two are closely inter-related.
The year 2006-07 has seen our FDI equity inflow go up to almost US$ 16
billion from US$ 5.5 billion in the previous year – almost tripling of the
inflows in one year. The last three years of our Government has seen
a staggering 725% increase in FDI inflows – up from US$ 2.22 billion in
2003-04 to US$ 16 billion in 2006-07! In line with the international
practice of including the retained earnings reinvested, our FDI touches
US$ 19 billion in 2006-07, constituting 2.3% of our GDP. This is about
6.8% of the gross capital formation or gross investment in the economy.
I am sure, you would agree, that this is quantum jump compared to only
0.5% of GDP and about 1.5% of gross investment three years ago. The
directional flow of FDI into manufacturing and export of goods and
services is contributing immensely to our export efforts.
Special Economic Zones (SEZs)
23.
Our SEZs are also receiving considerable
foreign investments and becoming instruments of employment generation and
export promotion. 92 SEZs have been notified till date and 50 of
these are at various stages of implementation. Over 18,000
direct jobs have already been created and it is expected that as many as
1.5 million jobs would be created in the SEZs already approved.
24.
I would like to conclude by recalling the
long way we have come in developing our export capabilities and enhancing
our global competitiveness. Till the early 90’s, our focus was on
import substitution measures and minimizing the trade gap. Since
then we have crossed many milestones to emerge as a major trading nation
with over one-third of our GDP coming from foreign trade. In this
background, merchandise export target of US$ 160 billion is being set for
the current year 2007-08 and US$ 200 billion for 2008-09. This
upward revision in our goal – up from US$ 150 billion envisaged earlier –
should not be too difficult to attain, given our strong economic
fundamentals, the entrepreneurship of our exporting community and the
collective resolve of government and trade & industry.
25.
Thank you.
*****
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19th
April 2007 |
New
Delhi: April 19, 2007
(IN US $ BILLION)
YEAR
EXPORTS GROWTH
RATE
2002-O3
52.7
20.29%
2003-04
63.8
21.10%
2004-05
83.5
30.85%
2005-06
102..7
22.97%(P)
2006-07
124.65
22.8%
(P)
NB:
-
INDIA’S
SHARE OF WORLD TRADE MOVES UP FROM 0.76 % IN 2003-04 TO MORE THAN 1 % IN
2006.
-
MERCHANDISE EXPORT TARGET OF US $ 160 BILLION FOR THIS FISCAL 2007-08.
-
MERCHANDISE EXPORT TARGET OF US $ 200 BILLION FOR 2008-09 - THE TERMINAL
YEAR OF THE FOREIGN TRADE POLICY (2004-09).
SB/NR/MRS
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19th
April 2007 |
ENHANCEMENT OF THE FDI
CEILING FROM 49 PER CENT TO 74 PER CENT IN THE TELECOM
SECTOR – REVISED GUIDELINES
PRESS NOTE NO. 3
(2007 SERIES)
The
Government, vide Press Note 5 (2005 Series) dated 3.11.2005, had notified
the enhancement of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) limits
from 49 per
cent to 74 per cent in certain telecom services
subject to
specified conditions.
2. The
Government has on a review of the policy in this regard, decided to
enhance the Foreign Direct Investment limit from 49 per cent to 74 percent
in telecom services subject to the following conditions;
A.
Foreign Direct Investment (FDI):
(i)
The enhancement of the FDI ceiling will be applicable in case of Basic,
Cellular, Unified Access Services, National/ International Long Distance,
V-Sat, Public Mobile Radio
Trunked Services (PMRTS), Global Mobile Personal Communications Services (GMPCS)
and other value added Services.
(ii) Both direct and indirect
foreign investment in the licensee company shall be counted for the
purpose of FDI ceiling. Foreign Investment shall include investment
by Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs), Non-resident Indians (NRIs),
Foreign Currency Convertible Bonds (FCCBs), American Depository Receipts (ADRs),
Global Depository Receipts (GDRs) and convertible preference shares held
by foreign entity. Indirect foreign investment shall mean foreign
investment in the company/ companies holding shares of the licensee
company and their holding company/companies or legal entity (such as
mutual funds, trusts) on proportionate basis. Shares of the licensee
company held by Indian public sector banks and Indian public sector
financial institutions will be treated as `Indian holding’. In any
case, the `Indian’ shareholding will not be less than 26 percent.
(iii) FDI up to 49 percent will
continue to be on the automatic route. FDI in the licensee company/Indian
promoters/investment companies including their holding companies, shall
require approval of the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) if it
has a bearing on the overall ceiling of 74 percent. While approving the
investment proposals, FIPB shall take note that investment is not coming
from countries of concern and/or unfriendly entities.
(iv) The investment approval by FIPB
shall envisage the conditionality that Company would adhere to licence
Agreement.
(v) FDI shall be subject to laws
of India and not the laws of the foreign country/countries.
B.
Security Conditions:
(i)
The Chief Officer Incharge of
technical network operations and the Chief Security Officer should be a
resident Indian citizen.
(ii)
Details of
infrastructure/network diagram (technical details of the network) could be
provided on a need basis only to telecom equipment suppliers/manufacturers
and the affiliate/parents of the licensee company. Clearance from
the licensor (Department of Telecommunications, Government of India )
would be required if such information is to be provided to anybody else.
(iii)
For security reasons, domestic
traffic of such entities as may be identified /specified by the licensor
shall not be hauled/routed to any place outside India.
(iv)
The licensee company shall take
adequate and timely measures to ensure that the information transacted
through a network by the subscribers is secure and protected.
(v)
The officers/officials of the
licensee companies dealing with the lawful interception of messages will
be resident Indian citizens.
(vi)
The majority Directors on the
Board of the company shall be Indian citizens.
(vii)
The positions of the Chairman,
Managing Director, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and/or Chief Financial
Officer (CFO), if held by foreign nationals, would require to be security
vetted by Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). Security vetting shall be
required periodically on yearly basis. In case something adverse is found
during the security vetting, the direction of MHA shall be binding on the
licensee.
(viii) The Company shall not transfer the
following to any person/place outside India:-
(a)
Any accounting information
relating to subscriber (except for international roaming/billing) (Note:
it does not restrict a statutorily required disclosure of financial
nature) ; and
(b) User information (except
pertaining to foreign subscribers using Indian Operator’s network while
roaming).
(ix) The Company must provide
traceable identity of their subscribers. However, in case of
providing service to roaming subscriber of foreign Companies, the Indian
Company shall endeavour to obtain traceable identity of roaming
subscribers from the foreign company as a part of its roaming agreement.
(x) On request of the licensor
or any other agency authorised by the licensor, the telecom service
provider should be able to provide the geographical location of any
subscriber (BTS location) at a given point of time.
(xi)
The Remote Access (RA) to Network would be provided
only to approved location(s) abroad through approved location(s) in India.
The approval for location(s) would be given by the Licensor (DOT) in
consultation with the Security Agencies (IB).
(xii)
Under no circumstances, should any RA to the
suppliers/manufacturers and affiliate(s) be enabled to access Lawful
Interception System(LIS), Lawful Interception Monitoring(LIM), Call
contents of the traffic and any such sensitive sector/data, which the
licensor may notify from time to time.
(xiii)
The licensee company is not
allowed to use remote access facility for monitoring of content.
(xiv)
Suitable technical device should
be made available at Indian end to the designated security agency/licensor
in which a mirror image of the remote access information is available on
line for monitoring purposes.
(xv) Complete
audit trail of the remote access activities pertaining to the network
operated in India should be maintained for a period of six months and
provided on request to the licensor or any other agency authorised by the
licensor.
(xvi)
The telecom service providers
should ensure that necessary provision (hardware/software) is available in
their equipment for doing the Lawful interception and monitoring from a
centralized location.
(xvii)
The telecom service providers should familiarize/train
Vigilance Technical Monitoring (VTM)/security agency officers/officials in
respect of relevant operations/features of their systems.
(xviii)
It shall be open to the licensor
to restrict the Licensee Company from operating in any sensitive area from
the National Security angle.
(xix)
In order to maintain the privacy
of voice and data, monitoring shall only be upon authorisation by the
Union Home Secretary or Home Secretaries of the States/Union Territories.
(xx)
For monitoring traffic, the
licensee company shall provide access of their network and other
facilities as well as to books of accounts to the security agencies.
(xxi)
The aforesaid Security
Conditions shall be applicable to all the licensee companies operating
telecom services covered under this Press Note irrespective of the level
of FDI.
(xxii)
Other Service Providers (OSPs),
providing services like Call Centres, Business Process Outsourcing (BPO),
tele-marketing, tele-education, etc, and are registered with DoT as OSP.
Such OSPs operate the service using the telecom infrastructure provided by
licensed telecom service providers and 100% FDI is permitted for OSPs.
As the security conditions are applicable to all licensed telecom service
providers, the security conditions mentioned above shall not be separately
enforced on OSPs.
3.
The conditions at para 2 above shall also
be applicable to the existing companies operating telecom service(s) with
the FDI cap of 49%.
4.
The relevant provisions of FDI policy for
‘investment companies’, as given in Press Note 2 (2000 series) dated
11.2.2000 issued by Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion will no
longer be applicable to telecom sector.
5.
Press Note 15 (1998 series) and Press Note 2 (2000 series) issued by
Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion stand modified to the above
extent.
6.
An unconditional compliance to the aforesaid conditions shall be submitted
by the existing telecom service providers to the
licensor within 3
months from date of the Press Note and, thereafter, compliance report
shall be submitted on 1st day of July and January on six
monthly basis.
7.
Press Note 5 (2005 Series) dated 3.11.2005 stands superceded by this Press
Note.
Department
of Industrial Policy & Promotion, Ministry of Commerce & Industry, New
Delhi, 19th April, 2007
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18th
April 2007 |
INDIA EMERGES AS A FORCE IN MANUFACTURING EXPORTS – KAMAL
NATH LAUNCHES
ESCAP’S ANNUAL ECOOMIC AND
SOCIAL SURVEY OF ASIA
New Delhi:
April 18, 2007
Shri Kamal Nath, Minister of Commerce & Industry, launched the UN-ESCAP’s
annual Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific 2007 at a global
media launch here today.
Releasing the Survey, the Minister noted that “the
publication finds that apart from the remarkable performance in IT
services,
India is rapidly emerging as a force in manufacturing
exports, with capital-intensive products featuring prominently”.
Speaking on the occasion, Shri Kamal Nath said he was pleased to note that
this year’s survey drew particular attention to the ascendancy of
India of economic powerhouse.
UN-ESCAP’s analysis indicates that India’s contribution to
global growth has nearly doubled in the last two decades. As a result,
India is now the world’s fourth largest economy in terms of purchasing
power parity.
“Furthermore, the enormous trade potential between India and China is
highlighted as one of the key phenomena in coming years. There has already
been a four-fold increase in trade since 2002,
and the still comparatively low absolute value promises dramatic room for
future increase”, he observed.
Mr. Kim Hak-Su, Under Secretary General of the United Nations and
Executive Secretary of UN-ESCAP, made a presentation of the Survey and Ms.
Shalini Dewan, Director, United Nations Information Centre, also spoke on
this occasion.
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18th
April 2007 |
New
Delhi: April 18, 2007
Shri Kamal Nath, Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, will announce
the Annual Supplement to the Foreign Trade Policy here tomorrow.
All stakeholder inputs have been taken into account in fine-tuning the
elements of the Annual Supplement 2007 to the Foreign Trade Policy
(2004-09) through consultations, including in the Board of Trade.
The first-ever comprehensive Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) was announced by
Shri Kamal Nath on 31st August, 2004 with a five year framework
(2004-09), which took an integrated view of the overall development of
India’s foreign trade with a two-fold objective of (a) doubling India’s
percentage share of global merchandise trade by 2009; and (b) acting as an
effective instrument of economic growth by giving a thrust to employment
generation.
India’s merchandise exports since the announcement of the Policy in August
2004 have gone up significantly. India’s exports crossed the
landmark figure of US $ 100 billion in 2005-06. India’s
merchandise exports increased from US $ 53 billion in 2002-03 to US $ 103
billion in 2005-06. Exports in the current year touched US $
109 billion during April 2006 to February 2007, showing a growth of
22.95%.
The Annual Supplement to the Foreign Trade Policy to be announced by the
Minister will be available on the Internet and can be accessed at the
following website addresses:
http://commerce.nic.in and
http://dgft.delhi.nic.in as soon as it is released. In
addition, the Foreign Trade Policy Annual Supplement etc., will be
simultaneously available on the website of the Press Information Bureau (PIB)
at:
http://pib.nic.in
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16th
April 2007 |
INDIA, CHINA
TAKE COMMON STAND ON WTO DOHA ROUND ISSUES
INDIA-CHINA ISSUE JOINT MINISTERIAL STATEMENT IN BEIJING – KAMAL
NATH ALSO DISCUSSES BILATERAL TRADE WITH CHINESE MINISTER
New Delhi:
April
16, 2007
Taking a common stand after assessing the progress of negotiations in the
Doha Round of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) at this critical
juncture, Shri Kamal Nath, Minister of Commerce & Industry and Mr. Bo
Xilai, Chinese Commerce Minister have agreed that the major issue holding
back and impeding the progress in Round is the lack of movement by the
developed countries in terms of early removal of distortions caused by
huge subsidies and significant market access barriers in developed
countries. “Unless the outcome of the negotiations upholds the proposals
of developing countries resulting in real and effective reduction of trade
distorting domestic support coupled with meaningful disciplines,
substantial improvement in market access by developed countries and
eliminations of all form of export subsidies the aspirations of the
developing countries, as built in the mandate, will not be fulfilled”,
they categorically said in the India-China Joint Ministerial
Statement which was issued in Beijing today.
Mr. Bo Xilai and Shri Kamal Nath
met in Beijing on 16th
April 2007
to compare notes and exchange views in order to review the progress of
negotiations on the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) of the WTO and to
safeguard the common interests of developing country Members in the future
course of negotiations. Mr. Kamal Nath briefed Minister Bo Xilai about the
discussions in the G-4/G-6 meetings in Delhi on April 12, 2007.
They recalled the commitment of the two countries expressed in the
Joint Declaration issued during the state visit of the President of the
People’s Republic of China in November 2006 to strengthen the
cooperation of the two countries in the WTO and safeguard the legitimate
rights and interests of the developing countries. Reaffirming their
support for an open, fair, equitable, transparent and rule-based
multilateral trading system and their determination to coordinate with
other members of the WTO, especially the developing countries, in order to
ensure placing the development dimension at the heart of this Round, the
two Ministers expressed their sincere hope for achieving an
expeditious conclusion of the Doha Development Round based on full
realization of the development goals as mandated in the Doha Declaration,
the Framework Agreement of July 2004 and the Hong Kong Declaration.
The two Ministers identified the other core
development concerns of the developing countries that are vital to
delivering the development imperatives in these negotiations and
reiterated that
special products (SPs) and the special safeguard mechanism
(SSM) play a vital role in addressing the food security, rural development
and livelihood concerns of developing countries and the outcome of Doha
negotiations for these flexibilities can be sustainable only if it enables
the developing countries to meet their development objectives.
They rejected any renegotiation of the principles and elements embodied in
the Doha mandate and any proposals on these crucial development
instruments which could have the effect of undermining the ability of
developing countries to meet their food security, livelihood security and
rural development needs.
They urged the developed members, in particular the major
trading countries, to realize that they bear a special and specific
responsibility for the outcome of the Round. They must show their
readiness to implement measures that remove trade distortions and
significantly open their markets.
Their current positions do
not provide an adequate basis for leading the agriculture negotiations to
a successful conclusion. They must, therefore,
significantly improve their proposals especially in the two crucial areas
of domestic support and agriculture market access as well as be prepared
to deliver on the development dimension of the DDA.
The two Ministers agreed to remain in close touch
and continue the coordination between the two countries for the future WTO
negotiations in order to ensure that the development interests of
developing countries are secured in accordance with the mandate of the
Doha Development Round.
Later, in a separate meeting with the Chinese Agriculture Minister, Shri
Kamal Nath raised issues of trade interest to India in the agricultural
sector such as export of fruits & vegetables, bovine & dairy products etc.
The Chinese Minister assured to expedite issue of sanitary and phyto-sanitary
clearances that was hindering exports of these items to the Chinese
market. China, in turn, raised the issue of export
duty on iron ore supplied by India.
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15th
April 2007 |
INDIA TO
UNDERTAKE GAS EXPLORATION IN UZBEKISTAN
AGREES TO OPEN TECHNICAL TALKS WITH GAIL
New Delhi: April 15, 2007
Uzbekistan
has agreed to open technical talks with GAIL for enabling the Indian
company to start exploration activity in natural gas in the gas-rich
Central Asian country
. This
materialised after meetings between the Prime Minister of Uzebekistan, Mr.
Savkit Mirziyayev and the visiting Minister of State for Commerce, Shri
Jairam Ramesh on April 13, 2007 at Tashkent. India has also offered to
help establish a training institute for gas technology in Tashkent, along
the lines of the Jawaharlal Nehru IT Centre in the Uzbek capital that was
inaugurated by the Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh last year. GAIL
has identified 4 specific blocks for gas exploration. So far Russia, China
and South Korea have invested in gas exploration in Uzbekistan.
Shri Jairam
Ramesh was accompanied in his meetings with the Prime Minister of
Uzbekistan and other senior ministers by Shri Mukund Chaudhury, Managing
Director of CLC Textiles which has recently invested $ 81 million in
cotton spinning and yarn in Uzbekistan. A further investment of $ 40
million is planned by CLC Textiles over the next two years. The Uzebk
Prime Minister appreciated the operations of CLC Textiles and expressed
Uzbekistan's keenness for similar investments by Indian companies in
pharmaceuticals and leather. Shri Jairam Ramesh promised to talk to Indian
companies in this regard soon.
Shri Jairam
Ramesh also conveyed to the Uzbek Prime Minister, India's interest in
exploring for gold in gold-rich Uzbekistan since India is now the world's
largest importer of gold. The Uzbek government has agreed to consider a
proposal from MMTC/ National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) for
gold exploration but wants this proposal to include value-addition
investments in Uzebekistan itself, like in gold jewellery. MMTC and
NMDC will now formulate a proposal for submission to the Uzbek government
in the next 30 days.
The Uzbek
Prime Minister underscored the special cultural and political relationship
that exists between India and Uzbekistan. He also mentioned the great
personal regard and respect that the President of Uzbekistan has for Dr.
Manmohan Singh whom he has known personally for over a decade and a half.
He felt that the time was now ripe for taking the bilateral economic
relationship to a whole new level and that Shri Jairam Ramesh's visit will
contribute significantly to this.
****
SB/NR
--
Information Division,
Ministry of Commerce & Industry
Government of India
PH: 23063622, 23384462,23387278
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15th
April 2007 |
INDIA AND
AZERBAIJAN TO COOPERATE IN OIL & GAS SECTOR AND OTHER AREAS
New Delhi: April 15, 2007
India and Azerbaijan have
agreed to cooperate in several areas including oil & gas sector and Indian
companies are set to play a greater role in the development of
Azerbaijan's rapidly expanding oil and gas industry.
This was the result of a meeting last week
between the President of
Azerbaijan, Mr. Ilham
Aliyev and the visiting Minister of State for Commerce, Shri Jairam Ramesh
at Baku. At the end of a 45-minute discussion, Mr. Aliyev consented to
ONGC Videsh and SOCAR, the state-owned oil and gas exploration company of
Azerbaijan starting talks for cooperation for ONGC Videsh's investments in
hydrocarbon-rich Azerbaijan.
ONGC Videsh has already
invested close to $ 5 billion in 15 countries around the world, half of
which is in Russia alone and that ONGC Videsh has much to offer to
Azerbaijan, particularly in fields where production is declining.
Mr. Aliyev sought
India's assistance in
enhanced oil recovery and deep sea drilling. Shri Ramesh also offered
GAIL's expertise in gas-based petrochemicals and city-gas distribution.
To begin
with, ONGC Videsh and GAIL will participate in the Caspian Sea Oil and Gas
Exhibition being held in Baku, June 3-4, 2007. Shri Ramesh also briefed
the President of India's interests in exploring for gold in Azerbaijan,
particularly since India is now the world's largest importer of gold. MMTC
and NMDC will work with their Azerbaijani counterparts to identify
specific areas where prospecting and appraisal work can be undertaken.
Mr. Aliyev also expressed
deep appreciation for India's offer to help establish a centre for
education and training in IT in Baku.
The President agreed with the observations made by Shri Ramesh that
India's great strength lies in skills training and human resource
development, particularly in management, law and science and technology.
Of the 100 Azeri students who are to be sent abroad for higher education
this year, it is expected that 20 will come to India.
Shri Ramesh also offered
India’s assistance in tapping the high wind energy potential in
Azerbaijan.
The Minister informed the Azerbaijan President that Indian
companies like Vestas and Suzlon have become globally prominent and
already about 4500 MW of wind energy capacity has been established in
India.
Azerbaijan President and other leaders also expressed hope that Indian
pharmaceutical companies would consider moving beyond distribution and set
up manufacturing facilities in Azerbaijan.
During his visit, Shri
Jairam Ramesh and Mr. Haiyder Babayev, the Minister for Economic
Development of Azerbaijan also signed an agreement that sets up a Joint
Intergovernmental Commission on Trade, Investment and Economic
Cooperation.
The Agreement, which has been on the anvil for almost five years, is
expected to provide a fillip to both commercial and cultural exchanges
between the two countries. India has also offered technical assistance to
Azerbaijan to facilitate its entry into the WTO. Meanwhile, President
Aliyev accepted the invitation from Shri Ramesh to visit India at the
earliest.
***
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13th
April 2007 |
GOVERNMENT PERMITS IMPORT OF MOTORCYCLES OF 800CC ENGINE CAPACITY OR ABOVE
SUBJECT TO CONDITIONS
PRESS
NOTE
·
The
government has permitted import of motorcycles of engine capacity 800 CC
or above, with following conditions:
1.
The imported motorcycles
must meet Euro-III emission norms.
2.
In place of homologation,
at the time of import, the importer has to submit:
a)
Type Approval Certificate
/ COP of an international accredited agency from the country of origin
along with notorized English translation of the certificate.
b)
The Type Approval
Certificate has to state that the vehicle complies with all the ECE
regulations for the complete vehicle.
·
The above
conditions shall be applicable in imports by following category of
importers:
a)
Individuals;
b)
Companies and firms; and
c)
Original equipment
manufacturers who have manufacturing and service network in India.
Directorate General of
Foreign Trade (DGFT), Ministry of Commerce and
Industry, New Delhi, 13th
April, 2007
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13th
April 2007 |
PRESS NOTE
A
news item “Rubber Hartal on April 16” appeared in a section of the press,
in which it was reported that Union Government is to allow import of
Natural Rubber from Thailand at a reduced import duty.
It is clarified that there is no such move by the Union Government.
During the India-Thailand Trade Negotiating Committee Meeting which took
place on 3 – 5 April 2007 in New Delhi and India Thailand Minister level
bilateral meeting which took place on 11th April 2007 in New
Delhi, Thailand side requested for market access for Natural Rubber.
The Indian side while taking note of the request, made no commitment,
whatsoever, for reduction of tariff on Natural Rubber.
Department of
Commerce, Ministry of Commerce & Industry,
New Delhi, 13th
April, 2007
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13th
April 2007 |
New
Delhi: April 13, 2007
Indian mangoes will enter the
US market
this season
and the first
export consignment of Indian mangoes for USA is expected to leave later
this month. Both India and the United States had expressed happiness
over this market opening for a major Indian agricultural product at the
Sixth Ministerial level meeting of the US-India
Trade Policy Forum (TPF) which was held here today under the chairmanship
of Shri Kamal Nath, Union Minister of Commerce and Industry and Ms. Susan
Schwab, United States Trade Representative (USTR). The progress made by
the
US and India on key bilateral issues was reviewed at the
meeting.
USTR Ms. Schwab and Shri Kamal Nath also announced the
formation of a Private Sector Advisory Group of prominent US and Indian
trade experts who will provide strategic recommendations and insights into
the US-India Trade Policy Forum.
“The U.S.-India Trade Policy Forum is a critical instrument for advancing
bilateral trade and fostering investment. It is our hope that that
Private Sector Advisory Group will infuse our very productive existing
dialogue with new ideas to enhance the bilateral trade and investment
environment”, Ms. Schwab said. Shri Kamal Nath said: “The
Private Sector Advisory Group being an independent think tank would prove
to be a valuable channel for giving the private sector perspective and a
new dimension to the ongoing dialogue which will provide fillip to US
India bilateral trade and investments.”
Membership of the Private Sector Advisory Group
includes key voices in the
United State
and India on international economic and trade policy.
US representatives include: Ambassador Carla A. Hills, & Co; Mr. C.
Fred Bergesten, Director of the Pete G. Peterson Institute for
International Economics (IIE) Mr. John J. Castellani, President of the
Business Roundtable; and Mr. Ron Somers, President of the U.S. India
Business Council.
Expert representatives from India include Dr. V. Krishnamurthy, Chairman,
National Manufacturing Competitive Council; Dr. Isher Judge Ahluwalia,
Chairman, Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations
(ICRIER)/Alternatively, Dr. Rajiv Kumar, Director, ICRIER; Mr. R.
Sheshasayee, President, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII)/Alternatively,
Lt. General S.S. Mehta, Director General, CII; Mr. Habil Khorakiwala,
President, Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI)/
Alternatively, Dr. Amit Mitra, Secretary General, FICCI.
Shri Kamal Nath and Ms. Schwab
noted with
satisfaction that TPF had proved to be a unique bilateral mechanism and
that there has been fair degree of progress in resolving issues. They
noted that the Focus Groups on Agriculture, Tariff & Non-Tariff Barriers,
Services, Innovations & Creativity and Investment was having regular
meetings and have identified various bilateral trade issues of
interest, as also monitoring progress on each of these issues on a regular
basis. Both sides expressed satisfaction on the activities of these Focus
Groups and noted that maintaining the current momentum was necessary to
facilitate and promote greater trade and investment.
USA is India’s largest trade partner and foremost
export destination accounting for 16.83% of India’s exports and around
6.34% of India’s imports. India accounts for only around 0.75% of the
USA’s total exports and imports. While the USA’s exports to India
have grown by over 35% in 2005-06, India’s exports to US have also shown a
growth of over 26%. With the trend of increased trade volume
continuing, India & US are confident of achieving the TPF objective of
doubling India US Trade in 3 years time, Shri Kamal Nath and Ms. Schwab
said.
The US on its part welcomed the increase in FDI cap in
Telecom Sector to 74% and hoped that US corporations would help in further
development of the telecom sector in India. India informed that
efforts are being made to facilitate import of heavy
motorcycles like Harley Davidson to India following Euro III standards. It
was also agreed to hold
an Investment Summit in India in November 2007; start preliminary
discussions on having a Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection
Agreement (BIPA) and defer implementation of metal scrap exporter
registration regime proposed by India till 30th September 2007.
BACKGROUND TO
US-INDIA PRIVATE SECTOR ADVISORY GROUP
The US –
India Trade Policy Forum was launched during the visit of Prime Minister
Dr. Manmohan Singh to Washington, DC, in July 2005. This ongoing
dialogue is designed to deepen the relationship between the two countries
by promoting greater trade and investment. The US – India Trade
Policy Forum is chaired by U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab and
Indian Minister of Commerce and Industry Kamal Nath. The inaugural
ministerial session of the Forum was held in November 2005 in New Delhi.
Subsequent ministerial session were in March 2006 in New Delhi and in June
2006 in Washington, DC. Additional meetings at the Deputy USTR /
Commerce Secretary level were held in February 2006 in Washington, DC, and
in New Delhi in May and November 2006.
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13th
April 2007 |
New
Delhi: April 13, 2007
The manufacturing sector in
India grew by
a record 12.3% in February 2007,
while the cumulative industrial growth in the 11-month period, i.e. April
06 to February 07 has been 11.1% over the corresponding period of the
previous year. This is the first time that Industrial growth has
crossed the 11% mark in the last decade. Shri Kamal Nath,
Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, has said that the record
manufacturing growth is significant in the context the high priority being
accorded by the government to manufacturing as a source of employment
generation.
Meanwhile, foreign direct investment (FDI)
inflows (equity only) in February 2007 amounted to US $ 698 million,
compared to only US $ 127 million in February 2006, a huge increase of
450%. Cumulatively, from April 2006 to February 2007, an amount of
US$ 11.89 billion have come in equity, compared to US$ 4.31 billion during
the 11 months of the previous year. This marks a growth of 176% in
dollar terms in FDI inflows into
India
cumulatively.
As per the Quick Estimates of Industrial Production, manufacturing sector
grew by 12.3% in February 2007. As a result, during
April 2006 to February 2007, there was a 12.1% rate of growth in the
Manufacturing Sector during the 11-month period. “This
augurs well for the beginning of the 11th Plan, which aims to
achieve a growth of 12% per annum in Manufacturing during the entire Plan
period”,
Shri Kamal Nath said.
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12th
April 2007 |
New
Delhi: April 12, 2007
The 6th Ministerial of India-US Trade Policy Forum Meeting will
be held here tomorrow under the chairmanship of Shri Kamal Nath, Union
Minister of Commerce and Industry and Ms. Susan Schwab, United States
Trade Representative (USTR).
The India-US Trade Policy Forum was established during the visit of Prime
Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh to the US in July 2005 with a view to
expanding bilateral trade and investment relations between India and
United States. The Trade Policy Forum is an integral part of
the overall economic dialogue between India and the US.
The agenda will include presentations by Focus Groups on five topics
namely, tariff and non-tariff barriers; innovation & creativity; services;
agriculture; and investment.
The US is India’s largest trading partner and its foremost export
destination. The two-way trade between India and the US
was valued at a little over US $ 26 billion, comprising exports worth US $
17 billion to the US and imports worth US $ 9 billion in 2005-06.
At present, the US accounts for about 17% of India’s exports and roughly
6% of India’s imports. However, India accounts for only around
0.75% of USA’s total global trade (exports and imports).
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11th
April 2007 |
KAMAL NATH
DISCUSSES BILATERAL TRADE WITH THAI COMMERCE MINISTER
New Delhi: April 11, 2007
Shri Kamal Nath, Union Minister of Commerce & Industry, had a bilateral
meeting with Mr. Krirk-krai Jirapaet, Minister of Commerce of Thailand
here today. The discussions covered review of bilateral trade and
bilateral investments, with both the Ministers underlining the scope for
substantially stepping up the level of two-way trade, which stood at US $
2.2 billion in 2005-06 (comprising US $ 1 billion worth of India’s exports
to Thailand and India’s imports from Thailand valued at US $ 1.2 billion).
India’s exports to Thailand registered a growth of almost 20% over the
previous year, while imports from Thailand increased by about 39%.
With regard to investments, while several major Indian companies have
invested in Thailand, in the post-liberalisation era, Thailand too had
emerged as an important investor in India with foreign direct investment (FDI)
inflows of about US $ 77.6 million from August 1991 to December 2006.
Thailand now ranks 27th largest investor in India and the 3rd
largest from the ASEAN region, after Singapore and Malaysia.
There is a Framework Agreement for establishing a Free Trade Area (FTA)
between India and Thailand which was signed by the two governments in
October 2003 in Bangkok, covering goods, services and investment and areas
of cooperation. The Framework Agreement also provides for a Early
Harvest Scheme (EHS) under which common items of export interest to the
sides have been agreed for elimination of tariffs on a fast track basis.
The tariff concessions on 82 items of EHS list have been implemented with
effect from 1/9/2004 with the signing of the Protocol between India and
Thailand in August 2004 in New Delhi.
India Thailand Trade Negotiating Committee (TNC) has been constituted to
carry forward the programme of negotiations as per the Framework
Agreement. Nine meetings of the TNC have been held so far.
During these meetings, discussions are being held on the texts of the
Agreement on Trade in Goods, Services and Investment and also on the Rules
of Origin for the FTA.
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10th
April 2007 |
G-4 AND
G-6 MINISTERS TO MEET IN NEW DELHI TO REVIEW PROGRESS OF DOHA ROUND ON
12th APRIL
New
Delhi: April 10, 2007
The Trade Ministers of the G-4 group of countries – viz.,
India, Brazil, the United States and the European Commission (EC) – are
scheduled to meet in New Delhi on Thursday, 12th April, 2007 to
review the progress of the Doha Round of multilateral trade negotiations
since the resumption of the negotiations.
It may be recalled that the Doha Round of multilateral trade negotiations
at the World Trade Organisation (WTO), which had been suspended in July
2006 on account of a lack of consensus largely on domestic support and
market access in agriculture, have been resumed on 7th February
2007.
This will be the first formal meeting of the Trade Ministers of the G-4
since July 2006.
The meeting of the G-4 will be followed immediately by a
meeting of the Ministers of the G-6 (viz., the G-4 plus Japan and
Australia) on the same day i.e., 12th April.
The Ministers are expected to discuss the areas of emerging convergence
among the countries as well as the steps to be taken to contribute in a
constructive manner to the multilateral process, so as to enable a
successful conclusion of the Doha Round.
************
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9th
April 2007 |
FACT SHEET
New Delhi:
April 09, 2007
-
Volume wise, the permits
issued for coffee exports in FY-2006-07 is the highest ever
(2,58,546 tonnes) surpassing the previous best of 2,46,908 tonnes of
actual exports in 2000-01.
-
The total export volume
of 2,58,546 tonnes, includes 29052 tonnes of re-exports.
-
The permits issued for
re-exports in 2006-07 compared to 34813 MTs of actual re-exports in
2005-06 (less by 5761 tonnes or 16%)
-
The unit value
realization for all types of coffees exported in green bean equivalent
in 2006-07 is Rs 79895 per tonne and is the highest for the past eight
years i.e. since 1999-2000.
-
As on date, confirmation
of exports in 2006-07 is for 221421 tonnes for which foreign exchange
earnings realized is US $ 395.04 million or Rs.1769 crores.
Already, the current financial year’s export earnings is the highest for
the past 8 years i.e. since 1999-2000. When the remaining
confirmations come, it is expected that, the total export earnings will
corss Rs.2000 crores for 2006-07.
-
Italy, Russian Federation
and Germany are the top three importing countries of coffee from India
in 2006-07. Belgium emerged as the fourth biggest importer of coffee
from
India
for the first time.
-
The permits for export of
Indian coffee alone in 2006-07 is 229495 tonnes compared to 168161
tonnes in 2005-06 (Actual exports = 165230 tonnes)
*****
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8th
April 2007 |
JAIRAM TO
LEAD MULTI-SECTORAL DELEGATION
TO AZERBAIJAN AND UZBEKISTAN
VISIT TO AIM AT ENHANCING BILATERAL TRADE & INVESTMENT: FOCUS ON
COOPERATION IN OIL & GAS SECTOR, MINERALS, RAILWAYS ETC
New Delhi: April 08, 2007
The Minister of State for Commerce, Shri Jairam Ramesh is leading a
multi-sectoral Indian delegation to
Azerbaijan and
Uzbekistan from April 10-16th, 2007
to boost bilateral economic relationships covering both investment and
trade.
In Baku, Shri Ramesh will sign the first-ever agreement with
Azerbaijan for
establishing the India-Azerbaijan Intergovernmental Commission on Trade,
Economic, Scientific and Technological Cooperation.
Along with the Managing Director of ONGC Videsh, he will also pursue
India’s
interests for oil and gas exploration in Azerbaijan.
ONGC Videsh has identified some promising prospects which it would like to
develop, Azerbaijan having re-emerged as a major oil-rich country with the
commissioning of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline that links Azerbaijan,
Georgia and Turkey and is the world’s second longest oil pipeline
connecting rich Caspian Sea oil reserves with the Mediterranean Sea.
Azerbaijan also having vast resources of minerals and metals, senior
officials from MMTC and the National Mineral Development Corporation(NMDC)
are accompanying Shri Jairam Ramesh, to explore the possibilities of
entering into a Memorandum of Understanding for cooperation in the mineral
sector with the Azerbaijan Government. BHEL has executed a major
project for supply and installation of power generators. Indian
pharmaceutical companies are also building their presence in Azerbaijan.
The Minister of State’s visit is expected to provide a fillip to these
efforts.
In Tashkent, Shri Ramesh will chair the Seventh Session of the
India-Uzbekistan Intergovernmental Commission. Accompanied by senior
officials of GAIL, Ministry of Petroleum & National Gas, he will pursue
with the Uzbek government the projects identified by GAIL for investment
in
Uzbekistan
in petrochemicals, LPG and city gas distribution. In addition, GAIL has
identified 4 natural gas exploration and production blocks as prospective
ones in Uzbekistan on which it would like to move forward, Uzbekistan
being one of the top natural gas producing countries in the world. ONGC
Videsh is also interested in investing in gas fields in Uzbekistan.
In addition, Shri Ramesh will review the status of implementation of the
MOU signed in November 2006 between the Uzbekistan government and The
Cotton Textiles Export Promotion Council of India (TEXPROCIL) for
enhancing cooperation in the cotton textile sector. The public sector
State Trading Corporation is also exploring a $ 10 million investment in
Uzbekistan
for cottonseed processing. An Indian private company Spentex has already
acquired two cotton spinning factories in Uzbekistan investing close to $
80 million.
Accompanied by senior officials of MMTC and the National Mineral
Development Corporation (NMDC), Shri Ramesh will also explore
opportunities of intensified cooperation in gold,
Uzbekistan having the
4th largest gold reserves in the world and India now being the
world’s largest importer of gold( 700-800 tonnes per year).
For both Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan, Shri Ramesh is also accompanied by
senior officials of the Department of Commerce, Ministry of External
Affairs, Culture, Petroleum and Natural Gas and Science and Technology,
apart from representatives of RITES, and business delegations from FICCI,
CII and the Indo-CIS Chamber of Commerce in case of Uzbekistan. The
Indo-CIS Chamber is organizing a substantive buyer-seller meet in
Tashkent on April 13th,
2007 and RITES has made proposals for modernizing and expanding
Uzbekistan’s railway network.
On
another plane, both
Azerbaijan and
Uzbekistan are keen on enhancing collaboration with India in the field of
education and culture.
Keeping in view her tremendous popularity and appeal in both countries on
account of her films like “Seeta Aur Geeta” and “Sholay”,
Shri Jairam Ramesh extended an invitation to Smt. Hema Malini, MP to also
join the delegation. But the noted film and dance artiste had to decline
because of her election campaign commitments in UP. She has however
recorded special messages to the people of
Azerbaijan and
Uzbekistan which Shri Jairam Ramesh will hand over to his counterparts.
Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan are countries with which India has had long and
deep historical and cultural ties extending over millennia. The historic
Silk Route connected the three countries and apart from Islam, both
Zoroastrianism and Buddhism are common threads. Over the past few
years, India has been taking determined steps to build a close economic
relationship as well. The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh had visited
Uzbekistan in April 2006 and Shri Mani Shankar Aiyar had visited
Azerbaijan in June 2005.
***
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5th
April 2007 |
FACT SHEET
New Delhi: April
05, 2007
|
Objectives of the
Special
Economic Zones (SEZ)
scheme |
(a) generation of
additional economic activity
(b) promotion of exports of goods and services;
(c) promotion of investment from domestic and foreign sources;
(d) creation of employment opportunities;
(e) development of infrastructure facilities;
|
|
SEZ Act 2005 |
-
Passed by parliament in May 2005
-
Recd. Presidential assent on 23rd
June 05
-
Came into effect on 10th Feb 06
supported by the SEZ Rules
|
|
No. of valid formal approvals
|
234 |
|
No. of Notified SEZs
|
63 |
|
No. of formal
approvals pending Notification
|
171 |
|
Land requirement |
Ground Realities:
Total Land in India : 2973190 sq km
Total Agri Land in India: 1534166 sq km (51.6%)
SEZs Notified 67 sq
km
SEZs formally approved 350 sq km
In principle approvals 1400 sq km
Total Area for
proposed SEZs (FA+IP) - 1750 sq km
Total SEZ area would
not be more than 0.1% of Agri Land
234 Formal Approvals:
-
Approx. 33808 hectares
-
Proposals from SIDCs/St. Govt.
Agencies: 60
-
Land requirement for the 60
proposals: 17800 ha
|
|
No. of valid In principle
approvals |
162 |
|
Investment made in 63
notified SEZs |
Rs. 13,435 crore |
|
Employment created in
63
Notified SEZs |
18,457 persons |
|
Expected investment
and
employment from SEZs (by
December 2009): |
By the 63 notified Special Economic Zones:
Investment: Rs.
53561 crores
Employment: 15,75,452 additional jobs
|
|
If 234 formal
approvals
becomes operational: |
Investment:
Rs. 3,00,000 crore
Employment: Rs. 4 million additional jobs
|
|
Exports in 2005-06
|
Rs.
22840 Crore |
|
Exports projected by
all
notified
82 SEZs (19 Old + 63
New) in 2007-08
|
-- Rs. 67300 Crore
-
200% increase in 2 Years
-
Exports from SEZs likely to cross
100,000 Crore by 2008- 09
|
|
|
|
Minimum Area
Requirement for setting up SEZs:
·
1000 hectare for
multi-product SEZs;
·
100 hectares for sector
specific SEZs; and
·
10 hectares with minimum
built up processing areas of 100,000 sqm, 40,000 sqm and 50,000 sqm for
IT, Bio-technology, gems & jewellery SEZs respectively.
·
Most of applications for
multi-product SEZs have been in the range of 1000 hectare to 2500
hectare – only two cases with 10,000 hectare.
·
No maximum land area
stipulated since it is the State Government, which is to decide upon the
approval and land use stipulation.
·
Lesser minimum area
requirement in respect of special states viz., Assam, Meghalaya,
Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Manipur, Tripura, Himachal
Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Sikkim, Jammu & Kashmir and Goa & union
territories.
************
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MMTC PAYS
25% INTERIM DIVIDEND FOR 2006-07
CHEQUE PRESENTED TO KAMAL NATH
New Delhi:
April 03, 2007
A cheque for Rs.12.4 crore was presented here today to Shri Kamal Nath,
Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, by Shri Sanjiv Batra, Chairman &
Managing Director, MMTC Limited, towards 25% interim dividend declared by
the company for fiscal 2006-07 in its Board meeting held on 7th
March, 2007.
MMTC, the largest international trading company of India, with a net worth
of over Rs.925 crore and zero long-term debt shall be achieving its
highest ever turnover of over Rs.23000 crore and a net profit after tax of
about Rs.120 crore during financial year 2006-07.
The impressive performance is indicative of the success of strategic
initiatives taken by the company and reflects the value creation through
effective combination of goods, services and investment. The broad
based growth in all business lines, debt free capital structure with
adequate cash reserves and a sound net worth provides robust base for
company’s future growth.
MMTC has recently commissioned 15 MW wind farms in Karnataka which have
started producing electricity. MMTC has also drawn
ambitious business plans to expand its role as a trade organizer and
facilitator by venturing into newer areas such as free trade warehousing
zones, development of a cold chain, entering into long-term strategic
alliances for energy inputs and enlarging existing franchisee network to
provide outlets for its ‘SANCHI’ brand silverware besides entering into
iron ore and coal mining. The company would continue to pursue
these efforts for achieving consistent growth in future and strengthen its
base further, so as to provide value-added services and sustainable
returns to its stakeholders.
************
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3rd
April 2007 |
New Delhi, April 03, 2007
The sustained high growth rate of merchandise
exports at more than 20 per cent during the last four years is more than
twice the current growth of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). “This has
been possible as a result of stable policy framework provided by the Trade
Policy and a continuous, conscious & concerted effort by the Government to
reduce trade barriers, bring down transaction costs and facilitate a
favorable international environment”, notes the Annual Report of Ministry
of Commerce & Industry (Department of Commerce) which was released
recently. After crossing the landmark figure of US $ 100 billion in
2005-06, exports in the current year touched US $ 89 billion during the
first three quarters (April-December 2006). During the last few years,
the rising competitiveness of some of the sectors like engineering goods
(auto parts) and high commodity prices (petroleum and metals) have
been the driving force for high sustained growth of exports.
The Annual Report mentions the several benefits that accrue from the
Special Economic Zones (SEZs). The SEZ policy aims at generating greater
economic activity and employment by providing a stable, transparent and
efficient policy framework for establishment and running of SEZs. The
main objectives of the SEZ Act are; generation of additional economic
activity, promotion of exports of goods and services, promotion of
investment from domestic and foreign sources, creation of employment
opportunities and, development of infrastructure facilities.
So far, formal approval has been granted to 234 SEZ proposals and
in-principle approval to 162 SEZ proposals. Investment of the order of
Rs.1,00,000 crore including FDI of US $ 5-6 billion is expected by end of
December 2007 leading to creation of direct employment of 5 lakh jobs.
Out of the 234 formal approvals, notifications have already been issued in
respect of 63 SEZs. IN the 63 notified SEZs which have come up after
10th February
2006, investment of Rs.13,435 crore has already been made in less than one
year. These SEZs have, so far, provided direct employment to 18457
persons.
With a view to ensuring
healthy growth and improved productively in the plantation sector, the
Government has initiated a number of measures during the year. A
Special Purpose Tea Fund (SPTF) has been set up under the Tea Board for
funding replantation and rejuvenation of old tea bushes with the goal of
long-term development of tea industry. The proposal is to cover an area of
2.1 lakh hectares for rejuvenation and replantation activities over a
period of 15 years. To begin with, the scheme would be implemented
till the end of 11th Plan (including the remaining period of
2006-07) with an estimated outlay of Rs.567.10 crore covering an area of
85044 hectares. Under the SPTF, the Government would be providing a
subsidy of 25 percent of the cost.
On multilateral trade, throughout the negotiations,
India has continued to
pursue its national interests across all the areas under the Doha Work
Programme. It continued to work constructively with its coalition
partners, particularly, the G-20 and the G-33 in the agriculture, NAMA-11
and other developing country groupings including the African Group, ACP
countries, CARICOM, and LDCs in order to secure its development
imperatives.
The Doha Round, which was launched in November 2001, achieved an important
milestone with the Declaration issued at Sixth Ministerial Conference of
the WTO held in Hong Kong in December 2005 with WTO members agreeing to
establish modalities for negotiating agriculture access and
Non-Agricultural market Access (NAMA) and to conclude the negotiations
across all areas of the Doha Round by 2006 end. Intensive discussions
through January to July 2006 had focused mainly on the triangular issues
of domestic support, Agricultural Market Access (AMA) and NAMA.
Negotiations under the Doha Round in the WTO have been stalemated
primarily over agricultural trade. As the gap remained too wide, the
formal meeting of the Trade Negotiating Committee (TNC) held on 24th
July 2006 recommended for suspension of the negotiations across the Round
as a whole. The WTO General Council at its meeting held on 27th
July 2006 supported this recommendation for suspension of the Doha Round
negotiations as a whole. A soft resumption of negotiations across the
board was agreed on the basis of TNC decision held on 16th
November 2006. Full-scale resumption of the negotiations across the board
was reported by the negotiations across the board was reported by the
Chairman of the TNC in the meeting of the General Council held on 7th
February 2007.
India has welcomed the soft resumption and the subsequent full-scale
resumption of the negotiations
The 7th India-EU Summit was held in Helsinki in October 2006.
The
Summit agreed that both
sides move towards negotiations for a broad-based Trade and Investment
Agreement.
The European Commission is currently seeking a mandate from its Council of
Ministers for the launch of negotiations for such an Agreement.
During the year, a review of the India-Singapore Comprehensive Economic
Cooperation Agreement (CECA) was undertaken and fruitful discussions took
place for smooth and purposeful implementation of the Agreement.
Negotiations for conclusion of the Free Trade Agreement with ASEAN are
well underway. Both sides have shown flexibility to conclude the agreement
as early as possible and against this backdrop, three meetings of
India-ASEAN Trade Negotiating Committee were held during the year. It is
hoped to conclude the FTA with ASEAN by July 2007. A Trade and
Economic Framework (TEF) Agreement has also been signed with Australia for
enhancing bilateral trade and investment on a comprehensive basis.
*******
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2nd
April 2007 |
New
Delhi: April 02, 2007
The
cumulative value of India’s exports for the period April-February, 2007
was US $ 109126.78 million ($ 109 billion) or Rs.495347.28 Crore as
against US $ 88760.40 million ($ 88.7 billion) or Rs.393157.16 Crore
during the same period last year, indicating a growth of 22.95%, according
to the provisional data for merchandise exports available from Directorate
General of Commercial Intelligence & Statistics (DGCI&S).
Exports during the month of February 2007 were valued at US $ 9701.71
million (Rs.42841.09 crore) during the month of February, 2007 compared
with US $ 7834.49 million (Rs.34729.43 Crore) in February, 2006.
The cumulative value of
India’s imports during April-February,
2007 was US $ 164985.32 million (Rs.748440.60 Crore) which was higher than
imports at US $ 126336.01 million (Rs.558992.18 Crore) during April- February, 2006. Imports during the month of
February, 2007 were valued at
US $ 14362.69 million (Rs.63423.19 Crore) compared with US $ 11040.09
million (Rs.48939.50 Crore) in
February, 2006.
Crude Oil imports were valued at US $ 4061.40 million in
February, 2007 compared with US $ 4109.96 million in the
corresponding period last year thus registering a negative growth of
1.18%. Crude Oil imports during April-
February, 2007 were valued at US $ 52673.46 million which was
32.52% higher than Crude oil imports of US $ 39748.35 million in the
corresponding period last year.
Non-oil imports were estimated at US $
10301.29 million during February, 2007 which was 39.77% higher than growth
on non-oil imports of US $ 7370.07 million in February, 2006. Non-oil
imports during April-February, 2007 were valued at US $ 112311.85 million
which was 25.67% higher than the level of such imports valued at US $
89370.42 million in April- February, 2006.
The trade deficit for April-February, 2007 was
estimated at US $ 55858.54 million which was higher than the deficit of US
$ 37575.61 million during April- February, 2006.
The detailed data
is annexed.
|
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE |
|
ECONOMIC
DIVISION |
|
EXPORTS
& IMPORTS: (US $ Million)
(PROVISIONAL) |
|
|
FEBRUARY |
APRIL-FEBRUARY |
|
|
Provisional |
Provisionally Revised** |
Provisional |
Provisionally Revised** |
|
EXPORTS(including re-exports) |
|
|
|
|
|
2005-2006* |
7834.49 |
8993.67 |
88760.40 |
91499.99 |
|
2006-2007 |
9701.71 |
|
109126.78 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
%Growth
2006-2007/2005-2006 |
23.83 |
7.87 |
22.95 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
IMPORTS |
|
|
|
|
|
2005-2006* |
11040.09 |
11480.03 |
126336.01 |
129118.77 |
|
2006-2007 |
14362.69 |
|
164985.32 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
%Growth
2006-2007/2005-2006 |
30.10 |
25.11 |
30.59 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
TRADE
BALANCE |
|
|
|
|
|
2005-2006* |
-3205.60 |
-2486.35 |
-37575.61 |
-37618.78 |
|
2006-2007 |
-4660.98 |
|
-55858.54 |
|
|
*Provisional figures reported in Press Note for February 2006. |
|
|
|
**Provisionally Revised figures are unadjusted for the late returns |
|
|
|
DEPARTMENT
OF COMMERCE |
|
ECONOMIC
DIVISION |
|
EXPORTS &
IMPORTS: (Rs. Crore)
(PROVISIONAL) |
|
|
FEBRUARY |
APRIL-FEBRUARY |
|
|
Provisional |
Provisionally Revised** |
Provisional |
Provisionally Revised** |
|
EXPORTS(including re-exports) |
|
|
|
|
|
2005-2006* |
34729.43 |
39867.96 |
393157.16 |
405037.08 |
|
2006-2007 |
42841.09 |
|
495347.28 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
%Growth 2006-2007/2005-2006 |
23.36 |
7.46 |
25.99 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
IMPORTS |
|
|
|
|
|
2005-2006* |
48939.50 |
50889.69 |
558992.18 |
571341.06 |
|
2006-2007 |
63423.19 |
|
748440.60 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
%Growth 2006-2007/2005-2006 |
29.60 |
24.63 |
33.89 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
TRADE BALANCE |
|
|
|
|
|
2005-2006* |
-14210.07 |
-11021.73 |
-165835.02 |
-166303.98 |
|
2006-2007 |
-20582.10 |
|
-253093.32 |
|
|
*Provisional figures reported in Press Note for
February 2006. |
|
|
|
**Provisionally Revised figures are unadjusted for the
late returns |
|
|
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