India’s overall exports dip by 13.5% in first eight months of current fiscal year

New Delhi: The value of India’s overall exports (merchandise and services) during first eight months of the current financial year, April-November 2020, was US$ 304.53 billion as compared to US$ 351.83 billion during same period of the previous year, showing a negative growth of 13.45%. During this period, India’s overall exports were US$ 44.87 billion in September 2020 as compared to US$ 43.56 billion in September 2019, showing a positive growth of 3%. Merchandise exports were US$ 27.1 billion in December 2020, showing a positive growth of 0.14 % as compared to the corresponding month of the previous year.

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Stating that policy making is an ongoing exercise and steps are taken based on the prevailing economic scenario, the Minister of State in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Hardeep Singh Puri, in a written reply in the Lok Sabha today, stated that the government had taken the following steps to increase exports:

1. Foreign Trade Policy (2015-20) extended by one year i.e. upto 31-3-2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic situation.
2. Interest Equalization Scheme on pre and post shipment rupee export credit has also been extended by one year i.e. upto 31-3-2021.
3. A new Scheme, Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products (RoDTEP), has been launched with effect from 01.01.2021.
4. Common Digital Platform for Certificate of Origin has been launched to facilitate trade and increase FTA utilization by exporters.
5. A comprehensive “Agriculture Export Policy” to provide an impetus to agricultural exports related to agriculture, horticulture, animal husbandry, fisheries and food processing sectors is under implementation.
6. Promoting and diversifying services exports by pursuing specific action plans for the 12 Champion Services Sectors.
7. Promoting districts as export hubs by identifying products with export potential in each district, addressing bottlenecks for exporting these products and supporting local exporters/manufacturers to generate employment in the district.
8. Active role of Indian missions abroad towards promoting India’s trade, tourism, technology and investment goals has been enhanced.
9. Package announced in light of the covid pandemic to support domestic industry through various banking and financial sector relief measures, especially for MSMEs, which constitute a major share in exports.

– global bihari bureau