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:

• Involve the States in the growth of export by providing incentive-linked assistance to the State Governments.
• Create appropriate infrastructure for the development and growth of exports.

It is a centrally sponsored Plan scheme. The scheme 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).

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 with Secretaries of concerned Departments of the State, 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.

During Tenth Five Year Plan, an outlay of Rs. 1725 crore was approved for this scheme. As against this, the total funds released during the Plan period amounted to Rs.2050.50 crore. An outlay of Rs. 569 crore has been approved for the year 2007-08. The details of the funds released under ASIDE during 2002-03 to 2007-08 are given below in Table 6.1. The year-wise allocations/ releases of funds to the States/ UTs under the State Component, detailed status of major project under State Component and detailed status of major projects under Central Component

Table 6.1

Outlay and Releases under ASIDE

* Releases as on 10th December, 2007.

are given in Table 6.2, 6.3 and 6.4 appearing at the end of the Chapter.

The specific purposes for which the funds can be sanctioned and utilized under the scheme as per the approved criterion 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.

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. In order to minimize delay in submission of reports, utilization certificates, and for posting/updating of project related information on the website, a web–enabled monitoring system on the website of the Department of Commerce has been developed. As a result, monitoring of the utilization of funds released under ASIDE has been streamlined.

The objective of the scheme has been achieved in spite of various constraints as is evident from the active participation of States/UTs in sponsoring a large number of export related projects for assistance under the Scheme and the efforts made by them to leverage these funds for taking up several projects. The demands received far outweigh the availability of funds. Under the State component, a total number of 864 projects worth Rs. 18315.26 crore have been approved by the State Level Export Promotion Committees (SLEPCs) since 2002-03 to 2007-08 (as on10th December, 2007). Out of this Rs. 2942.28 crore only has been proposed by State Govts/UTs to be met from the ASIDE funds released to them under the state component and the balance of Rs. 15372.98 crore have been/are being leveraged from State Govts/UTs contribution and other sources identified by the State Govts/UTs. The States of Assam, Chandigarh, Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Jharkhand, J & K, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Mizorm, Nagaland, Orissa, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tripura, Tamilnadu, Uttranchal, U.P. and West Bengal have leveraged large chunk of funds from other sources.

Similarly in the Central component, a total of number 288 projects worth Rs. 1564.58 crore have been approved so far and out of that Rs. 803.44 crore only has been/ is to be funded from the Central component. Balance Rs. 761.14 crore has been/is being leveraged from other sources including States’ private partnership and agencies of States. Thus, it has also been possible to involve states/central agencies in the projects under Central component.

The objective of increased exports has also been attained as besides other export promotion measures by the Central Govt./ State Govts./UT administration, the financial assistance provided to States/UTs under State Component would also have contributed to export growth: exports having increased to Rs.571779 crore in 2006-07 from Rs. 255137 crore in 2002-03 reflecting an increase of about 124% when the ASIDE Scheme was launched on 13.3.2002. Although the said increase may not be entirely attributable to the financial assistance and steps taken under the ASIDE Scheme, such measures would have definitely impacted the growth.

Infrastructure Support

The Government facilitates transport/logistic support 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 containerisation, computerisation of cargo clearance and electronic data interchange, warehousing, setting up of air cargo complexes, inland container depots, container freight stations etc. There has been a constant endeavor to solve the problem of congestion in handling and clearance of containers at the Jawaharlal Nehru Port and the Inland Container Depot, Tughlakabad. A permanent action group on trade facilitation has been formed to recommend simplification of customs procedures leading to reduction of dwell time in cargo clearance.

Single window clearance for proposals for setting up of Inland Container Depots (ICDs)/ Container Freight Stations (CFSs)/ Air Cargo Complexes (ACCs) is implemented through an Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) since 1992. During the year, two meetings of Inter-Ministerial Committee were held to take decisions on the issue of grant of Letters of Intent to various companies for setting up of CFSs/ICDs/ACCs. So far, 15 proposals for setting up ICDs/ CFSs and ACCs have been approved by IMC.

Two high level committees viz. the Standing Committee on Promotion of Exports by Sea (SCOPE-SHIPPING) and the Standing Committee on Promotion of Exports by Air (SCOPE-AIR) have been set up to address the constraints in smooth movement of international cargo and resolve problems of exporters concerning customs, containerisation, air, shipping and railways related issues. The meetings of these two committees were held in Mumbai in April, 2007 with a view to reduce transaction costs and to facilitate trade by providing better infrastructure facilities, focusing on streamlining / simplification of procedures, removal of bottlenecks and bringing the freight handling charges to a globally competitive level.

Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) is being implemented in a phased manner at Ports and Airports so as to facilitate electronic clearance of export and import containers.

Market Access Initiative (MAI) Scheme

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, Recognised Apex Trade Bodies, Recognized Industrial Clusters and individual Exporters for product registration and testing charges for engineering products abroad. Indian Missions, National Level institutions like Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs), National Institute for Discovery Science (NIDS), National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) etc., Research Institutions, Universities and recognized laboratories. The following activities are eligible for financial assistance under the Scheme:

Marketing Projects Abroad

Under the scheme, assistance is provided for supporting marketing projects abroad based on focus product or focus country approach. The eligible activities include:

• Opening of Showrooms & Warehouses;
• Organising “Trade Festival of India” – a multi-sectoral event to be organised in select centers abroad to promote ‘Brand India’ by showcasing our strength in services like Health (Ayurveda & Yoga), Taste of India (Indian Cuisine), Tourism, Culture, etc., besides merchandise;
• National Level Participation in Major International Trade Fairs etc.;
• Display in International Departmental Stores;
• Publication of World Class Catalogues;
• Publicity Campaign and Brand Promotion;
• Research and Product Development;
• To support Recognized associations in Industrial clusters for marketing abroad;
• Reverse visits of the prominent buyers, etc., from the project focus countries.

Capacity Building

• For imparting training to the Indian exporters with respect to export in general and on specific region/country basis.
• For up-gradation/improvements in Laboratories, Universities, Research Institutions on stand alone or Public Private Partnership basis for fulfilling Sanitary & Phyto-sanitary (SPS) measures/related testing etc. including reimbursement of testing charges.
• For quality up-gradation of select products for export markets (by skill upgradation using experts/designers, production process improvements, reduction in rejections etc.).
• For developing Common facility centers; design centers; packaging, etc.
• For hiring consultants in the buyer/prospective country.

Support for Statutory Compliances

• Charges/expenses for compliance of statutory requirements in the buyer country including Testing charges for engineering products abroad; Registration charges for product registration abroad for pharmaceuticals, bio-technology and agro-chemicals clinical trials for drugs/pharmaceuticals & medical disposables, medical equipment etc.
• Other commodities/product groups and the nature of compliance covered for reimbursement under the scheme shall be as approved by the Empowered Committee on a case to case basis.
• For contesting litigation(s) in the foreign country concerning restrictions/anti dumping duties etc. on particular product(s) of Indian origin. The commodity/ product groups, nature of litigation to be supported and the extent of support shall be as decided by the Empowered Committee on a case to case basis.

Studies

• Market studies/survey for evolving proper marketing strategies.
• Export Potential Survey of the States.
• Projects/Study which further the objectives of the schemes.
• WTO studies for evolving WTO compatible strategy.
• All Trade related studies including Joint Study Group (JSG), Free Trade Agreement (FTA), Regional Trade Agreement (RTA) studies etc. Only specific markets studies are to be undertaken and these studies are to be entrusted to reputed professional organizations.

Project Development

• To generate focussed projects leading to substantial improvement in market access, a shelf of projects shall be prepared by engaging reputed professional organisations. A special focus would be on preparation of projects pertaining to priority sectors and sectors having substantial employment generation potential.

Miscellaneous

• Developing Foreign Trade Facilitation web Portal (data bases and systems for dissemination of information (electronic or otherwise to Indian Exporters);
• To support Cottage and Handicrafts units.

During the year 2007-08 (up to December 2007), a total of 109 projects/export promotion events and 15 market studies/export promotion surveys were undertaken with the assistance of grants-in-aid, sanctioned under the MAI scheme, by different Export Promotion Organisations/ Trade Promotion Organizations/ National Level Institutions etc. Details of outlays allocated and actual expenditure incurred under the scheme during the period 2002-03 to 2007-08 are given below:

Table 6.5
Outlay and Expenditure

(Rs. in Crore)

Marketing Development Assistance (MDA)

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:

• Individual exporters for export promotion activities abroad.
• Export Promotion Councils (EPCs) to undertake export promotion activities for their product(s) and commodities.
• Approved organizations/trade bodies in undertaking limited exclusive non-recurring innovative activities connected with export promotion efforts for their members.
• Focus Area export promotion programmes in specific regions abroad like Focus LAC Focus Africa, Focus CIS and ASEAN+2 programmes.
• Residual essential activities connected with marketing promotion efforts abroad.

During the year 2007-08 up to December 2007, a total of 393 projects/export promotion events were organised with the assistance of grants-in-aid, sanctioned under the MDA scheme, by the Export Promotion Councils and other approved organizations/trade bodies.

Details of outlays approved and actual expenditure under the scheme during the period 2002-03 to 2007-08 are given below in Table 6.3.

Table 6.6
Outlay and Expenditure

(Rs. in Crore)

Export Credit Guarantee Corporation of India Limited (ECGC)

The Corporation was established in 1957 as the Export Risk Insurance Corporation Limited. The paid up capital of ECGC is Rs.800.00 crore. 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 non payment 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 non payment 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 non payment 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.

During the year, the Corporation has celebrated its Golden Jubilee year and has been allowed to enter into domestic insurance business subject to the condition of 25% export orientation of the clients and overall cap of 10% of total value of business covered for each year. The achievements of the Corporation during 2006-07 and 2007-08 are given below:

Business covered and Premium income

During 2006-07, the Corporation provides commercial and political risk cover to exporters under the name “Policies”. During the year, 10,822 short terms policies were issued. The Corporation covered shipments worth Rs.50505.03 crore as against Rs.37590.19 crore in 2005-06, recording a growth of 34.36%. The Corporation earned a premium of Rs.192.82 crore by the year end of 2006-07 as against an income of Rs.163.27 in 2005-06, recording a growth of 18.10% under short term policies.

The Corporation earned a premium of Rs. 396.69 crore by the year end of 2006-07 as against the income of Rs.388.27 crore in 2005-06, recording a growth of 2.17% under short term covers to banks.

The Corporation earned a premium of Rs.17.98 crore by the year end of 2006-07 as against an income of Rs15.83 crore inr 2005-06, recording a growth of 13.59% under the medium & long terms covers to banks.

The total premium income for the year 2006-07 is Rs.617.66 crore as against a premium income of Rs. 577.33 crore in 2005-06, recording a modest growth of 6.99%. The major share of the premium income came from short term covers to banks which accounted to 64.22% of the total premium income followed by short terms policies (including factoring) 26.43%. The income from medium and long term sector accounted for 4.55% (Rs.28.15 Cores) (up from 4.47% in 2005-06).

During the year 2007-08 (up to December 2007), a total of 9201 policy covers were issued with the value of business covered being Rs. 517383.57 crore. The cumulative total of the premium income during this period is Rs.473.95 crore.

Claims paid and recoveries effected

The total claims paid during 2006-07 were Rs.372.26 crore as against Rs.386.59 crore in 2005-06. During the year 2006-07, the Corporation recovered a sum of Rs.210.20 crore as against a sum of Rs.125.25 crore in 2005-06. The recoveries can be broken down to Rs. 4.35 crore under short term policies, 50.01 crore under long term policies, Rs.0.77 crore under factoring, Rs.151.72 crore under short terms covers to banks and Rs.3.36 crore under long term covers to banks.

During the year 2007-08 (up to December 2007), a total of 1353 claims were received by the Corporation and Rs.25,50,813/- was paid in settlement of the claims. Recoveries amounting to Rs.9,96,549/- were made during this period.

Income, Expenditure and profitability

During 2006-07, the gross income of the Corporation amounted to Rs.812.63 crore as compared to Rs.705.48 crore during the previous year. Out of the gross income, premium income was Rs.594.44 crore as compared to Rs.543.05 crore during the previous year and other income was Rs.218.19 crore as compared to Rs.162.44 crore during the previous year. Of the other income, interest on investments alone accounted for Rs.216.11 crore registering a growth of 37.14 over Rs.157.58 crore earned in 2005-06.

The total expenditure during 2006-07 was Rs.261.77 crore consisting of Rs.187.11 crore by way of claims and provisions for claims made and Rs.73.96 crore being administrative expenses and write offs (including depreciation). During the period, the Corporation ended with a profit of about Rs.551.17 crore as compared to Rs.343.57 crore profit earned for 2005-06.

Dividend

As the Corporation celebrated its Golden Jubilee year in 2006-07 coupled with improved performance, it declared and paid a record dividend of Rs.125.00 crore for the year compared to Rs.44.35 crore paid in 2005-06.

Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Government of India

The Corporation has been signing a Memorandum of Understanding with the Government of India since 1996-97. In most of the years, the performance of the Corporation has been rated as “Excellent”. The Corporation was rated Excellent for its performance under various parameters during 2006-07 and was rated as one of the top 10 PSUs by the Government for its performance in 2005-06.

iAAA Rating and ISO Certification

The Corporation has obtained the top rating iAAA from International Credit Rating Agency (ICRA) for its claim paying ability in 2005-06 and the rating agency reaffirmed the same rating for 2006-07. Besides, the Corporation has opted for ISO Certification for its offices. Out of its 51 branches, 48 branches were ISO certified as on the 31st March 2007. In addition, the Head office of the Corporation is also ISO certified.

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. The objective of NEIA is to promote project exports 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 present corpus in the fund is Rs.396 crore. During 2006-07, the NEIA Trust considered and approved covers for projects involving a total sum of US $ 525 million.

India Brand Equity Foundation (IBEF)

India Brand Equity Foundation (IBEF) is working as a public private partnership with the Confederation of Indian Industry. The activities undertaken by IBEF during the year include the following:

• IBEF moved innovatively to sustain its previous activities and also launched new initiatives by re-strategising its working without losing its core focus.
• The website www.ibef.org was revamped and in addition to the weekly newsletter, new elements of quarterly economy updates and regular business trends were introduced. The website was also launched in Russian, www.ibef.in/russia.
• 50 new reports on Indian Inc Going Global, industry sectors, updates brought out. The India Now magazine has now been made available in Russian and Japanese.
• For the first time, financial assistance under MAI scheme was received for Russian and East Asia market/ investment / strategy studies.
• Sectoral initiatives to promote hand made carpets, leather and marine products were jointly undertaken with the sectoral ECPCs and Indian textiles in Japan.
• Participated at several international conferences as knowledge Partner by providing reports, necessary information on the Indian economy, etc. It also facilitated speakers from Indian industry at several of these conferences.
• In collaboration with the Ministry of Finance, it organized the India Sessions on the occasion of the Asian Development Bank annual meeting in Kyoto, Japan in May 2007.
• It launched the Brand India Ambassador programme in which prominent individuals have accepted IBEF invitation to convey positive information on the Indian economy during their overseas visits and interactions with foreign visitors.
• It organised special discussions with Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) and international Editors in Davos, in January 2007.
• It put up the India pavilion at the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) General Conference in Vienna in December 2007.
• It maintained regular work under Experience India Programme for visiting journalists, prominent individuals and briefings for visiting delegations.

eTrade Project

The project eTrade aims to facilitate export and import led clearances on 24x7x365 basis integrating international standards and best practices. This is a community project and the community partners are trade regulatory and facilitating agencies like Customs, DGFT, Sea Ports, Airports, Container Corporation of India (CONCOR), Export Promotion Organisations (EPO), Exporters, Importers, Agents and Banks. The objectives of this project are to facilitate electronic delivery of services; 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 achievements of the project during the year are:

• Speedy electronic issuance of licenses using digital signature & electronic payment.
• The digitally signed electronic message exchange between Customs and DGFT for DEPB licenses is operational and is under process for other schemes. The shipping bills are now received electronically by DGFT from Customs and corresponding licenses are sent electronically to Customs by DGFT. Thus it eliminates the requirement of physical verification of DEPB license which otherwise used to take considerable time ranging from one day to few months. Since the licenses are generated based on the shipping bills received from Customs, the chances of frauds have also reduced.
• Electronic handling and processing of shipping documents by Customs.
• Operationalisation of Customs electronic interface with custodian at IGI Airport for import cycle. The Import General Manifest (IGM) is now received electronically by Customs from airlines/agents which is sent to the custodian of cargo at airports for further processing at their end. The import cycle is being replicated at other airports.
• Automatic data capturing tools introduced at airports for trace & track of cargo.
• Centralized Port Community System (PCS) for major sea ports by Indian Ports Association (IPA) is under operationalisation wherein electronic message exchange between 12 major Sea Ports and their community partners is being facilitated. In earlier scenario each port had a standalone system whereas in the new centralized environment users can access a single window system to interface with any of the major Sea port.
  

With a view to facilitate trade further, the following decisions have been taken during the year:

• All Exporters/ Importers would need to maintain only one core-banking enabled bank account at national level for transactions with any of the stakeholders for trade. This would include Customs, DGFT, Ports, airports, Banks etc. All the concerned Government agencies have been advised to facilitate e-payment using single core-banking enabled bank account of Exporters/ Importers in the country. Exporters/ Importers would declare to all the agencies their one bank account in any core-banking enabled branch anywhere in India for all payments/ receipts, including Drawback. This would come into effect throughout India during 2008.
• In order to streamline the Customs electronic interface with its community partners, Customs is implementing a central window facility which would be operationalised during 2008.
• All the community partners of eTrade project would work towards migration to full electronic mode.

Trade Finance

Trade Finance coordinates the pre-budget proposals received from Apex Industry Associations / Chambers of Commerce, Export Promotion Councils, Commodity Boards, Federation of Exporters’ Organization, individual firms etc. 73 pre-budget proposals for the year 2008-2009 have been sent to Department of Revenue relating to minerals & ores, tea, coffee, rubber, foreign trade policy, gem & jewellery, engineering, marine products, electronics & software, chemical & allied products, leather & sports goods, agriculture & allied products, export oriented units/special economic zones sectors etc. The Department through the Export-Import Bank of India and in line with the trading opportunities proactively endeavored 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.

A Working Group consisting of the RBI, select banks and export organizations was set up in April, 2005 on export credit. The function of this group is to review (i) action taken on exporters’ satisfaction survey, (ii) existing procedures for export credit, (iii) Gold Card Scheme, (iv) export credit for non-star exporters, and (v) the current interest rate regulations in export credit. On the basis of the recommendations of this Working Group, a circular was issued to all scheduled Commercial Banks on February 7, 2006 to: (i) review and simplify the existing procedure for export credit; (ii) review the Gold Card Scheme; and (iii) review of export credit for non star exporters. Further, ceiling on interest rate on export credit in foreign currency has been revised from LIBOR + 75 basis points to LIBOR + 100 basis points with effect from April 18, 2006.

Important Initiatives by Export Promotion Councils (EPCs)

Gems & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC)

The gems and jewellery sector has been identified as one of the thrust areas for exports under the Foreign Trade Policy. This 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. It is estimated that this sector provides direct employment to about a million artisans and craftsmen.

The 3 year diploma course conducted by Indian Institute of Gems & Jewellery, Mumbai has been granted AICTE accreditation .

The Gems & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) participated in 14 international exhibitions held abroad during 2006-07. The details are given in the Annexure-I. During 2007-08, the Council has participated in 12 exihibitions abroad as per details in Annexure-II. The other major trade promotion activities undertaken by the Gems & Jewellery EPC during 2007-08 include:

• The Council organized a Buyer Seller Meet (BSM) for CIS countries at Mumbai during 24-25 March, 2007. On the buyer’s side, 70 representatives from 59 companies from 12 different countries participated in the BSM. On the seller’s side 26 sellers from India participated in the meet.
• Delegations of the Council visited various countries including China (11th-16th March, 2007), Cyprus & Iran (23rd-29th April, 2007) and Russia (19th -27th June, 2007) to explore markets in these countries and to further bilateral trade relationship in this sector.
• The Council organized 24th India International Jewellery Show in Mumbai during 30 August – 3 September, 2007 which is one of the largest B2B trade shows in the world.
• The Council also organized a conference titled ‘Mines to Market 2007’ in Mumbai from 26-27 April, 2007 in which all segments of diamond business viz. miners, manufacturers, traders and retailers interacted to discuss and exchange views on key issues and concerns of the industry.
• The Council organized Indo-China Diamond Buyer Seller Meet (3rd to 5th December 2007) at Shanghai, China. 21 participants from India participated in the Buyer Seller Meet while 187 buyers visited the Buyer Seller Meet.

Export Promotion Council for Services (SEPC)
Services exports have recorded an impressive growth during the last five years. 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 etc.

In order to give proper direction, guidance and encouragement to the Services Sector, the Government on the recommendations of a Task Force constituted in this regard has announced setting up of an exclusive Export Promotion Council for Services (SEPC). At present, the mandate of SEPC is limited to the following 13 service sectors:

• 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.

Project Exports Promotion Council (PEPC)

Project exports have been consistently rising since the last couple of years. Project exports from India include projects contracted on any of the following module:

• Civil construction projects;
• Turnkey projects including engineering, procurement and construction from concept of 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.

The Project Exports Promotion Council (PEPC) participates every year in overseas exhibitions to showcase India’s capabilities in the project exports sector. During the year, the PEPC led a delegation of Project Exporters to Riyadh and participated in the Saudi Build 2007 conference held from October 28 – November 1, 2007. It proposes to participate in a few other international exhibitions in India and abroad during remaining course of the year.

Engineering Export Promotion Council (EEPC)

Engineering Export Promotion Council (EEPC) is an organization registered under the Companies Act, 1956 as a company limited by guarantee. The Council undertakes various export promotion activities such as holding buyer-seller meets, organizing and participating in exhibitions abroad, conducting market surveys and for providing services to exporters of engineering products through its offices abroad, etc. under General and Focus Area Programme.

During 2007-2008, the Council organized the following important events:

The Indian Engineering Exhibition (INDEE) was held in Johannesburg, South Africa from 23rd to 26th October, 2007. This event was coincided with another Industrial Exhibition “Manufacturing Technology International” (MTI). India was declared as “Partner Country” at the MTI. At the exhibition, 171 companies displayed their products. Business enquiries received by the Indian participating companies during the exhibition is expected to generate business between USD 250-300 million in the next two to three years. The first INDO-SADC (South African Development Community) Partnership Summit was held during the exhibition to promote the trade and investment ties between India and the 14 member countries of SADC.

The Council signed two MOUs with the Chamber of Commerce & Industry of Johannesburg and Namibia to promote trade in engineering goods with India. The Council opened its second India Engineering Center (IEC) in Johannesburg on October 22, 2007 to help Indian small and medium scale companies to have a permanent showroom facility as also warehousing facility. It will also double up as a marketing office for Indian companies in South Africa. The Indian participants of INDEE 2007 visited the IEC facility of the Council and currently 47 companies out of a capacity of 50 companies are utilizing the facilities offered at the Center.

The Hanover Fair is the world’s most important technology event held every year in Germany. This year, Indian participation was in the subcontracting section covering auto components, castings, forgings, agricultural implements and tools, radiators etc. The 5 days event attracted approx. 2,30,000 visitors. India Pavilion was visited by leading decision makers, purchase managers, and companies looking for subcontracting their production to Indian companies. Trade enquiries of estimated US$ 12.65 million have been generated which may translate in to serious business in future. Some of the Indian participants entered into MOUs of long term contracts for supply of stainless steel and forged carbon steel auto components to Audi and Toyota. There were also discussions on possible joint ventures in India in the form of Foreign Direct Investment.

Plastic Export Promotion Council (PLEXCONCIL)

PLEXCONCIL is an export promotion body committed to service organization overseas’ seeking partners in the Indian plastic industry. It represents exporters from the Indian plastic industry and its membership comprises of over 200 manufacturers/ exporters exporting a wide range of plastic raw materials to finished goods. China followed by USA and UAE still continues to be the largest trading partner for the plastics sector. Vietnam and Italy have emerged among the top five trading partners.

Table 6.2

Year-wise Allocations/Releases of Funds to the States/ Uts under the State Component

(Rs. crore)

* Releases as on 10th December, 2007.

Table 6.3
Status of Major Projects under State Component
(Rs. in Lakh)

Table 6.4

Status of Major Projects under Central Component

(Rs. Lakh)

Annexure-I

Participation in International Exhibitions (2006-07)

Annexure – II

Participation in International Exhibitions (2007-08)