I. Assistance to States for Development of Export Infrastructure and Allied Activities (ASIDE) Scheme

ASIDE scheme was launched on March 13, 2002. The basic objectives of the scheme are:

In pursuance of the EXIM Policy announcement in March, 2000, ASIDE scheme was launched on 13.3.2002. The basic objectives of the Scheme are:-

1. To involve the States in the growth of export by providing incentive-linked assistance to the State Governments.

2. To create appropriate infrastructure for the development and growth of exports.

ASIDE is a Centrally Sponsored Plan Scheme. It provides an outlay for development of export infrastructure, which is distributed among the States, inter alia, on the basis of the States’ export performance in the previous year.

The outlay of the scheme has two components. 80% of the funds (state component) are earmarked for allocation to the States on the basis of the approved criteria. The balance 20% (central component), and amount equivalent to un-utilized portion of the funds allocated to the States in the past year(s), if any, is retained at the central level for meeting the requirements of inter-state projects, capital outlays of SEZs, activities relating to promotion of exports from the North Eastern Region as per the existing guidelines of the Export Development Fund and any other activity considered important by the Central Government from the regional or national perspective. 

The export performance and growth of exports from States is assessed on the basis of the information available from the office of the Director General of Commercial Intelligence & Statistics (DGCI&S). The office of the DGCI&S compiles State-wise data of merchandise exports from the shipping bills submitted by the exporter. The shipping bill form provides a column in which the exporters enter the name of the State/UT from where the export goods have originated.

At the Central Level, an Empowered Committee under the chairmanship of the Commerce Secretary with representatives of other Departments, approves and monitors the projects under the Central Sector. This Empowered Committee also periodically reviews the progress of the scheme and takes steps to ensure achievement of the objectives of the scheme. At the State Level, a State Level Export Promotion Committee (SLEPC) headed by the Chief Secretary of the State and consisting of the Secretaries of concerned Departments at the State level, a representative of the States Cell of the Department of Commerce (DoC), the Joint Director General of Foreign Trade posted in that State/ region and the Development Commissioner of the SEZ’s in the State scrutinizes and approves specific projects and oversees the implementation of the scheme. 

The funds are disbursed directly to a Nodal Agency nominated by the State Government where it is kept in a separate financial head in the accounts of the Nodal Agency. The specific purposes for which the funds can be sanctioned and utilized under the Scheme as per the approved criteria are:

• Creation of new Export Promotion Industrial Parks/Zones (including Special Economic Zones (SEZs)/Agri-Business Zones) and augmenting facilities in the existing Zones. 

• Setting up of electronic and other related infrastructure in export conclaves. 

• Equity participation in infrastructure projects, including the setting up of SEZs.

• Meeting the requirements of capital outlay of EPIPs/SEZs.

• Development of complementary infrastructure such as roads connecting the production centres with ports, setting up of Inland Container Depots and Container Freight Stations. 

• Stabilizing power supply through additional transformers and islanding of export production centres, etc. 

• Development of minor ports and jetties of a particular specification to serve exports.

• Assistance for setting up Common Effluent Treatment Plants.

• Projects of national and regional importance.

• Activities permitted as per the Export Development Fund in relation to the North East and Sikkim.

During the Eleventh Five Year Plan, an outlay of Rs 3664 crore was approved for the Scheme. An outlay of Rs 570 crore has been approved for the year 2008-09. The details of the funds released under ASIDE during 2004-05 to 2008-09 are given in Table 5.1 below. The year-wise allocations/ releases of funds to the States/ UTs under the State Component, detailed status of major projects under State Component and detailed status of major projects under Central Component are given in Annexures 5.1, 5.2 and 5.3 appearing at the end of the Chapter.

ch5-1

Flowers at Auction Hall, BangaloreFlowers at Auction Hall, Bangalore

Table – 5.1

Allocation Release Summary of ASIDE scheme for last five years

(Rs. in Crore)

Source: Department of Commerce, Government of India

Industrial Growth Centre, Kannur

Review and Monitoring of the Implementation of ASIDE scheme

The progress of the Scheme in States is closely monitored by States Cell of Department of Commerce. Following mechanisms have been put in place to ensure effective monitoring and review:-

1. Web Enabled Monitoring System (WEMS) – a portal on official website of the Department of Commerce has been hosted for monitoring of the scheme. The updation of the web site is done by Department of Commerce and Nodal Agencies/Central Agencies on quarterly basis. The WEMS generates 12 reports which are vital from effective implementation of scheme. The information about allocation, sanction and releases are issued through e-mail, so that states are aware in advance. The initiative has minimized the paper work and also any possibility of manual lapse.

2. Physical verification of the projects sanctioned under the scheme - the Department has designated DCs, SEZz/Jt. DGFTs and Senior Officers of the DoC to physically inspect the projects sanctioned under ASIDE Scheme. For this purpose, an explicit format has been devised and the officers submit report in that format. During 2008-09, total 84 projects have been physically verified by designated officers.

3. Review Meetings- review meetings are held at the senior level in DoC with Nodal Agency of States/Central Agencies/DCs, SEZ and Nodal Officers of DoC to review various aspect of the implementation of ASIDE. During 2008-09 total 6 meetings have been organized.

Infrastructure development and related facilities for footwear artisans in Athani, Belgaum

Achievement under the scheme for 2008-09

The scheme has been successful in leveraging the funds from State Government/Private Partners for the projects approved under the Scheme. A total number of 88 projects were approved during 2008-09 at the total cost of Rs. 662.84 crore of which Rs. 377.81 crore is to be met from ASIDE funds and balance Rs. 285.03 crore has been leveraged from other sources. 

In the Central Component, total 28 projects at the cost of Rs. 189.39 crore have been approved during 2008-09. Out of that Rs. 127.29 crore only has been/ is to be funded from the Central Component of ASIDE scheme. Balance Rs. 62.10 crore has been/is being leveraged from other sources including states, private partnership and agencies of states.

Nathula Border Trade Infrastructure

Status of work at Moreh, Manipur

Infrastructure Support

The Government provides transport/logistic support to India’s foreign trade and resolves problems experienced by the trading community in the carriage of goods by courier, sea, air, rail and road in coordination with the concerned Ministries & Departments. It seeks to encourage greater containerization, computerization of cargo clearance and electronic data interchange, warehousing, setting up of Air Cargo Complexes, Inland Container Depots, and Container Freight Stations etc. In order to resolve the infrastructure bottlenecks faced by exporters / importers, the Department has been in touch with Department of Shipping, Department of Road Transport & Highways, Department of Revenue, Ministry of Civil Aviation, Ministry of Railways, etc. The following steps have been taken by Department of Commerce for trade infrastructure development and trade facilitation:-

A. Setting up of Standing Committee on Promotion of Exports by Sea (SCOPE-Shipping) and Standing Committee on Promotion of Exports by Air (SCOPE-Air)

The objectives of these two Standing Committees are to address constraints in the smooth movement of international cargo and resolve problems of exporters concerning Customs, Containerisation, Air, Shipping & Railways related issues. Last meeting of these two committees were held on 8th August, 2008 in Chennai.

1. The major issues discussed at the meetings included the following:

2. Enhancing the financial powers to Port Trust

3. Urgent Dredging to deepen the channels and Berths Drafts at JNPT and Mumbai Ports

4. Resolution of issue of congestion at Ports

5. Transparency in charges being levied by Shipping lines, etc.

B. Single Window Clearance through Inter Ministerial Committee (IMC)

Single Window Clearance for the proposals for setting up of Inland Container Depots/Container Freight Stations/ Air Cargo Complexes (ICDs/CFSs/ACCs) is being implemented through an Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) functioning since 1992 under the Chairmanship of Additional Secretary (Infrastructure Division) of this Department. During the calendar year 2008, 26 Letters of Intent (LOI) were issued.

C. Core Group of Secretaries

A Core Group of Secretaries under the Chairmanship of Cabinet Secretary has been constituted to deal with the issues relating to infrastructure required for exports and imports. The Core Group would recommend measures for removal of critical bottlenecks in infrastructure hampering development of exports and imports, and review of the functioning of service providers at ports / airports / LCSs, etc. with a view to identifying procedures / systems that inhibit trade and take measures to remove them. The first meeting of the Core Group was held on 17.11.2008 under the Chairmanship of Cabinet Secretary. The major decisions taken in the meeting were:

1. Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) system should be put in place at the earliest.

2. Finalisation of Shipping Trade Practice Act to be expedited.

3. Cartelization by multimodal transporters/shipping lines, etc. to be curbed through Department of Shipping.

4. Performance of JNPT and Mumbai Port to be improved.

III. Market Access Initiative (MAI) Scheme

The Market Access Initiative (MAI) Scheme is a plan scheme formulated to act as a catalyst to promote India’s exports on a sustained basis, based upon ‘Focus Product’ and ‘Focus Market’ concept. Under the Scheme, assistance is extended to the Departments of Central Government and organizations of Central/State Governments, Export Promotion Councils, Registered Trade Promotion organizations, Commodity Boards, recognized Apex Trade Bodies and Recognized Industrial Clusters and individual Exporters (only for product registration and testing charges for engineering products abroad). 

The scheme was revised after a thorough review and extensive consultation with all the stake holders in the year 2006. The revised Scheme was launched with effect from January, 2007. During the year 2008-09, a total of 92 projects/studies were approved for receiving assistance under the scheme. Details of outlays allocated and actual expenditure incurred under the Scheme during the period 2004-05 to 2008-09 are given below in Table 5.2.

 “Challenge Fund” for Export Promotion Activities by Indian Missions abroad

To enable the Indian Missions abroad to better coordinate, synergize and facilitate our export promotion activities, the “Challenge Fund” was set up under the Market Access Initiative (MAI) scheme. Under the scheme, Indian Missions would ‘bid’ for support from the Fund by submitting innovative export promotion project proposals, with priority for focused, specific projects with quantifiable/tangible results. 

Table 5.2

Year wise Status of MAI Allocation/Releases

(Rs. Crore)

Source: Department of Commerce, Government of India

The above innovation is aimed at achieving the objective of further involving the Indian Missions abroad in the export promotion activities under the MAI scheme of the Ministry of Commerce. 

Under the scheme the outline of the project shall be prepared by the commercial wing of the Mission under the guidance of High Commissioner / Ambassador. Each financial year, upto 50 projects shall be approved and implemented within an expenditure ceiling of Rs.10.00 lakh per project.

The project may have a local partner (Chamber of Commerce, Industry Association, Business School, etc.) in the country of implementation and one or more stakeholders (EPC, Export Promotion Agency) in India, with the application to be made by the sponsoring Mission in the prescribed format under MAI guidelines. During the year 2008-09, 12 projects were sanctioned under Challenge Fund.

 IV.  Market Development Assistance (MDA) Scheme

To facilitate various measures being undertaken to stimulate and diversify the country’s export trade, Marketing Development Assistance (MDA) Scheme is under operation in the Department of Commerce. The scheme supports the following activities: 

1. Assist exporters for their participation in approved EPC/Trade Promotion Organizations led export promotion events abroad

2. Assist Export Promotion Council (EPCs) to undertake export promotion activities for their product(s) and commodities.

3. Assist approved organizations/ trade bodies in undertaking exclusive nonrecurring innovative activities connected with export promotion efforts for their members

4. Assist Focus export promotion programmes in specific regions abroad like FOCUS (LAC), Focus (Africa), Focus (CIS) and Focus (ASEAN + 2) .

5. Residual essential activities connected with marketing promotion efforts abroad.

During the year 2008-09, 373 export promotion activities were undertaken by the various export promotion councils / trade bodies with the assistance received under the schemes. Details of outlays approved and actual expenditure under the Scheme during the period 2004-05 to 2008-09 are given below in table 5.3.

 V.  Export Credit Guarantee Corporation Of India Limited (ECGC)

The Export Credit Guarantee Corporation of India Ltd. (ECGC) Mumbai was set up in 1957 under the Companies Act, 1956. ECGC is the premier organization in the country, which offers credit risk insurance covers to exporters, banks, etc. The primary objective of the Corporation is to promote the country’s exports by covering the nonpayment risk of exports faced by Indian exporters and banks financing the exports. The Corporation provides a range of insurance covers to Indian exporters against commercial risks of nonpayment by the overseas importers as well as the country risks caused due to political developments. It also provides credit insurance covers to banks against the nonpayment risks of exporters availing pre-shipment, post-shipment as well as other non funded export credit facilities. These covers to banks enable the latter to extend the credit facilities on a more liberal basis. The paid up capital at the end of 2008-09 is Rs. 900.00 crore. ECGC has registered itself with the IRDA on 27th September, 2002. 

The achievements of the Corporation during 2008-09 are given below:

• There were 13371 short-term policies including transfer guarantees and 103 long term policies, in force on 31.03.2009. The total value of shipment declared under the schemes (short-term policies, transfer guarantees and factoring) amounted to Rs.68866.34 crore in 2008-09 as compared to Rs.52766.57 crore in 2007-08, which represents a growth of 30.51%. 

• The total claims paid during the year 2008-09 amounted to Rs.450.62 crore as compared to Rs.420.02 crore in the previous year. During the year, a total sum of Rs. 157.05 crore was recovered as compared to Rs. 210.20 crore in the previous year 2007-08.

Table 5.3

Year wise status of MDA Releases/Allocation

(Rs. Crore)

Source: Department of Commerce, Government of India

• The total premium income from all the schemes of ECGC during 2008-09 amounted to Rs.744.53 crore as compared to Rs. 668.37 crore in 2007-08. This premium income of ECGC mainly comprises of Short Term Guarantee Business, accounting for 62.34% of the total premium income, followed by Short Term Policy sector including factoring, which contributed 33.11%. The income from medium and long term sector accounted for just 4.54% (Rs. 33.77 crore) of the total premium income. ECGC has a share of about 90% of the export credit insurance market in India, inspite of competition from the public sector, as well as private sector insurance companies.

• During 2008-09, the Corporation maintained same rates of premium, which was reduced by an average 10% in the previous year, across all sectors of business. This is inspite of adverse developments in the major export destination markets due to the onset of global recession, benefiting the export community. During the year, full-fledged factoring services of ECGC registered a net income of Rs.55.14 lakh as against Rs.25.98 lakh with total invoices factored amounting to Rs.75.66 crore. 

• ECGC covers exports to 237 countries. The top five countries covered by ECGC during the year were USA, UK, Germany, UAE and Italy. They represent about 45% of its total cover. Engineering Goods, Leather and leather manufactures, readymade garments, Chemical and allied products and Basic Chemical, Pharmaceuticals & Cosmetics are the top five commodities covered by ECGC during the year. These aggregate to Rs.24,000 crore, representing 35% of the total value covered by ECGC during the year. 

• The Corporation has declared and paid an interim dividend of Rs. 99.0 crore for the year 2008-09 as compared to Rs. 162 crore total dividend paid during the previous year.

• ECGC received the Indira Gandhi Award for official language implementation for the twelfth time successively. ECGC has achieved excellent rating under its annual Memorandum of Understanding signed with the Ministry of Commerce & Industry for the year.

 VI.  National Export Insurance Account (NEIA)

A separate Fund with an approved corpus of Rs.2,000 crore called the National Export Insurance Account (NEIA) was set up in 2006, out of which Rs.546 crore have been funded by the Government so far. During the year 2008-09, Rs.150 crore allocated for NEIA has been released. The present corpus of NEIA is Rs.646.89 crore (constituting premium and interest accrued), which has been invested in fixed deposit with banks. 

The objectives of NEIA is to promote project export from India, which may not take place but for the support of a credit risk insurance cover which the ECGC is not in a position to provide because of its own underwriting capacity. The NEIA is maintained and operated by a Public Trust set up jointly by the Department of Commerce and ECGC. 

 VII.  The Federation of Indian Export Organisation (FIEO)

The Federation of Indian Export Organization (FIEO) was set up in 1965 as an Apex body registered under the Societies Registration Act XXI of 1860 with its headquarters at New Delhi. The main objective of FIEO is to render an integrated package of services to various organizations connected with export promotion.

Organizations like the Export Promotion Councils, Commodity Boards, Chambers of Commerce, Export Houses, Trading Houses, Consultancy Organizations & Trade Associations etc. constitute the membership of FIEO. 

During 2008-09, FIEO organized various workshops and round table meetings at different places in India with the visiting foreign delegations. FIEO developed strategy paper on Banking and export finance and brought out several reports relating to exports from India. FIEO also organized Open House meetings of their members with Government Authorities in Chennai, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore and New Delhi. Besides, FIEO also organized executive export development programmes and short term training programmes for fresh entrepreneurs in the field of exports. The Government did not sanction any grant to FIEO for its administrative and development expenditure during 2008-09. The export promotion grants received from the Government under Marketing Development Assistance Scheme /Market Access Initiative Scheme were fully utilized for the export promotion activities.

FIEO established its two overseas India Trade Centres, at Romania and Sharjah during the year. These centres provides great opportunity for Indian exporters to show case their products in overseas markets. FIEO is also in the process of establishing its another India Trade Centre at Guangzhou in China.

 VIII.  India Brand Equity Foundation (IBEF)

India Brand Equity Foundation (IBEF) is a public-private partnership between the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India, and the Confederation of Indian Industry which came into being with effect from 3rd March, 2004. IBEF aims to promote India as a business opportunity by creating positive economic perceptions of India globally as well as effectively present the India business perspective and leverage business partnerships in a globalised market-place. 

Over the years, the India Brand Equity Foundation (IBEF) has emerged as a credible source for information on Indian business and economy, powered by its website www.ibef.org. The year 2008-09 saw IBEF further strengthen its Knowledge Centre with updations of state and sector reports, as well as a number of detailed studies on specific sectors such as healthcare. Further, a series of Impact India studies was undertaken and the year saw the launch of the first in the series, namely, IIT Alumni Impact Study 2008. Undertaken in collaboration with Pan-IIT, the global IIT alumni association, the study was released by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on December 19, 2008, during the inauguration of the 6th Annual Pan-IIT Global Conference.

IBEF also went multilingual in 2008-09. India business kits—comprising the ‘India Now’, a perspective magazine and the ‘Experience India’ CD—are now available in Russian, French and Spanish, for dissemination at various national and international fora. 

IBEF has always been an active participant in World Economic Forum (WEF) events as they present an opportune time and audience for its core message. Continuing with its traditional relationship with the WEF, IBEF hosted a breakfast session during the WEF Annual Meeting at Davos, Switzerland, in January 2009. Titled ‘Surviving the Meltdown and Brand India’, the session featured prominent government and business leaders. Garnering an audience of global business leaders from across sectors, the session deliberated on the changing realities of global economics and dwelt upon the factors that would keep India resilient.

 IX.  e-Trade Project

The eTrade project is a coordinated effort to implement Electronic Commerce/Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) for trade in various trade regulatory and facilitating agencies like Customs, Sea Ports, Airports, Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), Container Corporation, Export Promotion Organizations (EPO), Exporters, Importers, Agents and Banks. These agencies have established electronic interfaces between them as well as with the trading community to facilitate electronic delivery of services. The phase I of the project covers 35 locations of Customs, all 35 locations of DGFT, 8 international airports, 12 major sea ports, all 38 EXIM locations of CONCOR and banks across the country especially covering 106 major export intensive locations. The objectives of this project are to facilitate electronic delivery of services on 24X7X365 basis; to simplify procedures; to provide 24 hour access to users with their partners; to make procedure transparent; to reduce the transaction cost and time and to introduce international standards and best practices. 

 The major achievements under the project are:

• The project has empowered the trade and industry to have a transparent system for international trade, wherein they would be in-command to have anywhere anytime access to all the trade regulatory/facilitating agencies. 

• In view of speeding up the clearance process, Customs is implementing a Centralised server system for which hardware has been commissioned and the porting of applications on these systems is under process. The EDI for export transaction at Central Excise is also being built using Central Server system. This system is being linked to webs of CONCOR, Airports, and Seaports at single point to streamline the message interface with community partners.

• Electronic payments facilitation has been introduced by Customs, DGFT, Airports, Seaports and CONCOR. The drawback payments are now credited electronically by Customs in exporter’s declared one account in any core banking enabled bank/branch.

• Electronic issuance of licenses using digital signature is operational at DGFT. The digitally signed electronic message exchange between Customs and DGFT for DEPB licenses is operational and is being operationalised for DES and EPCG schemes.

• The complete import cycle is now operational between Customs and custodian and custodian and airlines, agents, importers etc. at IGI Airport. This is being operationalised at other airports also. The exports cycle is already operational at major airports.

• Centralized Port Community System (PCS) is operational for all major ports for Vessel, Container Cargo and transport related messages. E-Payments are also being operationalised. This system provides a single window interface with all major sea ports.

 X.  Trade Finance

Trade Finance Division coordinates and analyses the pre-budget proposals received from Apex Industry Associations / Chambers of Commerce, Export Promotion Councils, Commodity Boards, Federation of Exporters’ Organization etc. During the year 2008-09, 106 pre-budget proposals covering various sectors were sent to Department of Revenue for consideration and inclusion in the Budget 2008-09.

For the year 2009-10, a set of 98 pre-budget proposals has been sent to Department of Revenue relating to Minerals & Ores, Tea, Coffee, Rubber, Gem & Jewellery, Engineering, Marine Products, Electronics & Software, Chemical & Allied Products, Leather & Sports Goods, Agriculture & Allied Products, and Export Oriented Units/Special Economic Zones etc.

The Department, through the Export-Import Bank of India and in line with the trading opportunities, proactively endeavoured to enhance the competitiveness of Indian exporters while also striving to ensure that Banks’ activities and financing initiatives keep pace with the discerning requirements of industry and trade.

 X.  Important Initiatives by Export Promotion Councils (EPCs)

1. Gems & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) 

Gems & Jewellery sector was identified as one of the thrust sectors under special focus initiatives under the Foreign Trade Policy 2004-2009. The sector primarily consists of 3 sub-sectors- cut & polished diamonds, gold jewellery and colour gemstones and other items. The sector uses imported raw materials like Gold, precious and semi-precious stones, etc. to make high value items for exports through value addition thereby generating employment for skilled manpower in the Country. The Gems & Jewellery Export Council (GJEPC), in a recent study, has estimated that the Gems & Jewellery sector employed approximately 34 lakh people across all segments.

During the year 2008-09, GJEPC participated in the following exhibitions/ fairs/ BSMs held abroad: 

• Baselworld 2008 (3rd -10th April 2008), Basel, Switzerland; 

• 5th International Jewellery Fair-ARU 2008 (24th -27th April 2008) 

• Almaty, Kazakhstan; Jewellery Expo Ukrain (15th -18th May 2008) Kiev, Ukraine; 

• Charm 2008 (17th – 21st May 2008) Vicenza, Italy; 

• JCK Las Vegas 2008 (30th May- 3rd June 2008) Las Vegas, USA; 

• JA New York 2008 (27th – 30th July 2008) New York, USA; 

• Bangkok Gem & Jewellery Show (11th -15th September 2008) Bangkok, Thailand; 

• Hongkong Watch and Jewellery Show (15th -20th September 2008) Hongkong; 

• Choice 2008 (6th -10th September 2008) Vicenza, Italy; 

• Indo-China Buyer Seller Meet (September 2008) Shanghai, China; 

• Jewellery Arabia 2008 (25th -29th November 2008), Manama, Bahrain; 

• First 2009 (13th -20th January 2009), Vicenza, Italy; 

• Bangkok Gem & Jewellery Show (25th February-1st March 2009) Bangkok, Thailand;

• Hongkong Jewellery and Watch Show (4th -8th March 2009), Hongkong.

GJEPC also organized 25th edition of the India International Jewellery Show – Mumbai (7th -11th August 2008) at Mumbai; Indo-US Buyer Seller Meet 2008 (8th -10th September 2008) at Mumbai and IIJS Signature Goa (20th -23rd February 2009) at Goa, India.

The Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS)

B. Export Promotion Council for Services (SEPC)

Collection of data regarding export of services is obtained from RBI Bulletin showing India’s balance of payments under the invisibles. At present, the services export data is being collected under five sectors, i.e. travel, transportation, insurance, G.n.i.e. (Government Not Included Elsewhere) and miscellaneous. As per the RBI data, services exports have recorded more than fourfold increase in five years from US $ 20.76 billion in 2002-03 to US $ 90.07 billion in 2007-08. If this growth rate sustains, services exports can touch the level of merchandise exports in coming years. India’s services trade (exports + imports) now stands at US $ 142 billion (during 2007-08). 

The acceleration in services exports was mainly on account of the growth of exports in high value services like communication services, construction services, financial services, news agency services, royalty, copyright, license fee, management services and so on. 

During April-December 2008, the growth of services exports was 16% over the corresponding period of the previous year. The major category of export of services of India is the miscellaneous services category with a share of 76% in total services exports during the period April-December 2008. While software services is the major item under miscellaneous services exports, since 2003-04, non-software miscellaneous services exports have also grown rapidly. During the period April – December, 2008, the major contributors among non-software miscellaneous services are business services (56% share in non-software services); financial services (15% share); and Communication Services (8% share). 

An Export Promotion Council exclusively for services (SEPC) has been set up. At present, the mandate of SEPC is limited to the following 13 services sectors as under:

• Health Care Services including services by nurses, physiotherapist and paramedical personnel;

• Educational Services;

• Entertainment Services including audio-visual services;

• Consultancy Services;

• Architectural Services and related services;;

• Distribution Services;

• Accounting/Auditing and Book Keeping services;

• Environment services;

• Maritime Transport Services;

• Advertising services;

• Marketing Research and public opinion polling services/management services;

• Printing and Publishing;

• Legal Services.

• In addition, DGFT vide public notice dated 31.3.2008 has notified inclusion of “hotel and tourism related services” as the 14th sector under the purview of SEPC.

C. Project Exports Promotion Council (PEPC)

Project exports include projects contracted on any of the following module:

• Civil construction projects;

• Turnkey projects including engineering, procurement and construction from concept to commissioning and would also include civil work, civil construction and all supplies specific to these turnkey projects;

• Process and engineering consultancy services relating to the above;

• Project construction items excluding steel and cement.

Project exports have been consistently rising since the last five years and have increased from US $ 603.42 million in 2002-03 to US $ 3715.17 million in 2008-09.

Project Exports Promotion Council (PEPC) participates every year in overseas exhibitions to showcase India’s capabilities in the project exports sector. This year also PEPC led a delegation of Project Exporters to St. Petersburg (Russia) and participated in the Baltic Build 2008 held from 10 – 13 September, 2008.

D. Council for Leather Exports (CLE)

The Leather Industry holds a prominent place in the Indian economy. This sector is known for its consistency in high export earnings and it is the 8th largest foreign exchange earner for the country. The leather industry provides employment to 2.5 million people, mostly from the weaker sections of the society. India’s leather exports have been consistently rising from US $ 1.87 billion in 2002-03 to US $ 3.47 billion in 2007-08.

CLE organizes training programmes for its member exporters to improve their managerial, management and marketing skills. During the year 2008-09, CLE organized comprehensive training programmes in collaboration with IIT, Chennai (March 16-21, 2009) and IIFT, New Delhi (March 16-21, 2009).

During the year 2008-09, it has also organized three India International Leather fairs where overwhelming response from overseas business delegates was received:

• Delhi International Leather Fair (DILF), New Delhi – October 2008

• India International Leather Fair, Chennai – January 2009

• International Leather Goods Fair, Kolkatta – February 2009

Other activities of CLE during the year 2008-09 include:

• Participation in 12 fairs in countries like Poland, Italy, Germany and USA.

• One Buyer Seller Meet for Footwear Components organized in Sri Lanka.

• Conducted various Seminars/Workshops in major leather clusters on topics like Policy & procedural matters, fashion forecast and trends, design and product development etc

• Organized various publicity activities through release of advertisements in Overseas magazines/Fair Catalogues, preparation of product brochures, industry information pamphlets, directories etc.

• Brought out publications like “CLE’s Member Directory, 2009” containing complete profile of members and “Facts & Figures- Export of Leather & Leather products 2007-08” containing export data on product-wise, region-wise, cluster-wise and country-wise basis.

• Presented 12 Design Awards to industry members/students/free lance designers/institution for best designs of footwear, Leather Goods and Footwear Components.

• Participated in the International Footwear Conference

• Presented 14 MODEUROP Awards for the winning colours presented by the Industry members at the ‘MODEUROP Roundtable meeting for Spring Summer 2010’.

E. Pharmaceuticals Export Promotion Council (PHARMEXCIL)

Indian pharmaceutical industry is among the world’s largest and most developed. The sector is being looked after by PHARMEXCIL, an Export Promotion Council sponsored by Department of Commerce. It has 2743 exporters are its members.

The country ranks:

• 4th in the world in terms of production volume.

• 13th in domestic consumption value.

• 17th in terms of export value of bulk actives and dosage forms.

• Accounts for 8% of global production and 2% of world pharmaceuticals markets.

The exports of Drugs, pharmaceuticals & fine chemicals of India have grown at a CAGR of 17.8% during the five-year period 2003-04 to 2007-08. The Indian domestic pharmaceutical market size is estimated at US$10.76bn in the year 2008 and is expected to grow at a high CAGR of 9.9% percent till 2010 and thereafter at a CAGR of 9.5% till 2015.

Because of its inherent strength, India has the capabilities of providing healthcare at very low cost and still be profitable. Recognizing the potential of the industry, a Task Force to recommend measures for increasing exports of pharmaceutical products was constituted in July 2006 by Department of Commerce which has submitted its report in December 2008.

Some of the key recommendations made by the Task Force in its Report are:

• Promoting investments in Drug Discovery by encouraging institutional funding in the form of SPV & soft funding, collaborative arrangements for R&D in New Drug Discovery,

• Strengthening domestic biological, fermentation industry, drug-intermediates, specialty drugs, etc.,

• Increasing the availability of skilled professionals with cross functional skills in the areas of Pharma, Chemistry and biology sciences with knowledge of International Pharmaceutical Markets, Drug Regulatory affairs, Patents, etc.,

• Strengthening Domestic Contract Research and clinical Trial industry,

• Streamlining various drug approval and export procedures,

• Stringent drug regulation and implementation of drug quality standards,

• Actively negotiating for reduction of Non-Tariff Barriers in various bilateral trade agreements.

F. Chemicals Export Promotion Council (CHEMEXCIL)

Indian chemical industry has tremendous potential to grow and increase exports in dyes stuff and agro chemical market. Registration, Evaluation and Authorization of Chemicals (REACH) has come at a time when industry is grappling with a worldwide recession. Government of India has extended financial help to CHEMEXCIL, Export Promotion Council which looks after the chemical industry. The first phase of pre-registration has been completed. CHEMEXCIL has pre-registered 7500 substances of 650 companies from India. Indian chemical industry has capability to produce world class end-products. Out of the total Indian exports in European Union, more than 50 percent are industrial chemicals. 

CHEMEXCIL has developed a web portal wherein the data base of Indian exports for the last 3 years to EU has been prepared along with their HS Codes, quantity, value, etc. After studying the requirements under the new legislation, they have identified labs which are OECD accredited for carrying out the tests, etc. for various substances which has to be filed during pre-registration. Common facilities for helping the chemical industry in pre-registration by hiring experts in registration and software have been developed by CHEMEXCIL. They now have to ensure that detailed dossiers on pre-registered substances are prepared and registered in EU so that chemical exports of India do not get adversely impacted. All the necessary help is being provided to the Council for meeting this challenge. 

G. Engineering Export Promotion Council (EEPC)

Department of Commerce gives grant-in-aid to EEPC India under Market Development Assistance (MDA) and Market Access Initiative (MAI) Schemes to promote exports of engineering goods. EEPC India plays an important role and acts as catalyst between the members & the Government. The various promotional activities undertaken by the EEPC India on a regular basis are:

• Holding Exclusive Indian Engineering Exhibition (INDEE) abroad

• Participation in Specialized International Trade Fairs 

• Sponsoring Product Specific Delegations to Selected Countries

• Indian Engineering Meet & Exhibition(IEME)

• Organizing Export Awareness Programme in India

• Interactive website including latest export related information for all member exporters

• During 2008-09, EEPC India organized the following important events:

• India Pavilion at Hannover Fair, Hannover, Germany – April 21-25

• India Pavilion at Project Rebuild Iraq 2008, Amman, Jordan – May 5-8

• Pavilion at INTERMACH 2008, Bangkok, Thailand – May 14-18

• India Pavilion in Pumps & Systems Asia Exhibition, Singapore – July 2-4

• India Pavilion at AUTOMECHANIKA 2008, Frankfurt, Germany – September 16-21

• INDEE, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – September 25-27

• INDEE, Shanghai, China – November 4-8

Annexure 5.1

Year-wise allocations/releases of funds to the States / UTs under State Component of ASIDE Scheme

(Rs. in Crore) 

Annexure 5.2

Status of Major Projects under State Component

Andhra Pradesh 

(Rs. in lakh)

Andaman & Nicobar

Assam