Exporters get wider market reach

NEW DELHI: To bring the country's exports back on growth path, the government on Thursday announced a number of measures including tax sops, interest subvention and dollar credit for exporters. To beat the recession in the developed world like US and Europe, which has affected India's exports very badly, the government in its Foreign Trade Policy 2009-14 decided to add 26 additional markets (countries) in Africa, South America and CIS under Focus Market Scheme (FMS).

Explaining the reason for falling exports of the country, commerce and industry minister Anand Sharma, while unveiling the policy, said, ''We cannot remain oblivious to declining demand in the developed world and we need to set in motion strategies and policy measures which will catalyse the growth of exports." At present, exports to Europe, US and Japan amount to 36%, 18% and 16%, respectively, of India's total exports of $168 billion in 2008-09. Due to global recession, India's exports have declined by almost 30% in the last 10 months.

This has forced government to revise its growth targets. Refusing to give any projection for 2009-10, Sharma said the country would achieve an export figure of $200 billion in 2010-11 as against $168 billion in 2008-09. Recovery is on the way as industry has achieved a 7% growth in July, he added.

Sharma said the short term objective of the policy was to arrest and reverse the declining trend of exports and to provide additional support especially to those sectors which have been badly hit by recession in the developed world.

He added that the government will review its policy after two years and would take further measures according to the situation.

However, he said, ''By 2014, we expect to double India's exports of goods and services. In the last three years of the five-year policy, India will achieve a growth figure of 25% annually."

The long-term policy objective, he said, would be to double India's share in global trade by 2020. India had a 1.64% share in global trade in 2008. However, this is a climbdown from the earlier projection. Anand Sharma's predecessor Kamal Nath had announced that India will grab 5% share of global trade by 2020. Sharma said that the revised targetis more realistic in the changed circumstances.