Minister Of State (Independent Charge) In The Ministry Of Commerce & Industry (Cim), Nirmala Sitharaman Has Said That Government Has Taken Steps To Promote Exports Of Indian Goods.

Minister of State (Independent Charge) in the Ministry of Commerce & Industry (CIM), Nirmala Sitharaman has said that government has taken steps to promote exports of Indian goods.

In a written reply in Lok Sabha on Monday, Sitharaman said, "The government takes steps to improve the competitiveness of Indian goods through steps like improvement in infrastructure and ease of doing business."

"International Trade is governed on the basis of various factors including demand and supply, global economic situation and competitive pricing," she said.

In her reply, she said, following are some of the measures Government has taken recently to promote exports.

The Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS) was introduced in the Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) 2015-20 on April 1, 2015.MEIS aims to incentivize export of merchandise which are produced/manufactured in India.

At the time of introduction of MEIS on April 1, 2015, the scheme covered 4914 tariff lines at 8 digit level. Countries of the globe were grouped into 3 market categories (Country Group A, Country Group B & Country Group C) for grant of incentives under MEIS. Slight changes in lines covered etc. were made on 14.07.2015 and 15.7.2015. Thereafter on 29.10.2015, 110 new Tariff Lines at 8 digit level were added under the scheme.

The rates/country coverage for 2228 lines at 8 digit level were enhanced. As on date, 5012 Tariff Lines at 8 digit level are eligible for rewards under MEIS. The annual resource allocation under MEIS was enhanced from Rs. 18000 crore to Rs. 21000 crore in October 2015.

The Government has introduced the Interest Equalisation Scheme on Pre & Post Shipment Rupee Export Credit with effect from 1.4.2015. The scheme is available to all exports under 416 tariff lines [at ITC (HS) code of 4 digit] and exports made by Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) across all ITC (HS) codes. The rate of interest equalisation is 3 percent per annum.

In addition the Government continues to provide the facility of access to duty free raw materials and capital goods for exports through schemes like Advance Authorisation, Duty Free Import Authorisation (DFIA), Export Promotion Capital Goods (EPCG) and drawback/refund of duties.

While India's exports during April 2015 – February 2016 over the April 2014 – February 2015 declined by 16.7 percent, the decline for the products covered under MEIS for the same period was only 8.95 percent, added Sitharaman in her reply.

In an other reply she said, "The Government is implementing a number of measures and incentives for promoting the exports of agricultural products."

The Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), under the administrative control of the Department of Commerce extends financial assistance to the eligible exporters under "Agriculture export promotion Plan Scheme" which comprises of various components namely; Market Development; Infrastructure Development; Quality Development; and Transport Assistance. Also, exports of grapes are eligible for an incentive of 5 percent under the Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS).

In addition to this Grape Net is an internet based electronic service offered by APEDA to the Stakeholders for facilitating testing and certification of Grapes for export from India to the European Union in compliance with the standards identified by NRC Pune, on the basis of consultation with exporters.

The cultivation of grapes is supported through Centrally Sponsored Scheme i.e. Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH) in all the States by providing assistance in the form of planting material, drip irrigation, trellies and integrated nutrient and pest management, she added.

 

Source :smetimes
 

22-Year-Old Girl Exports Paper From Banana Fibre

 Raipur: Lured by the rich forest cover and produce in Chhattisgarh, a 22-year-old girl ventured into export of forest-based products and has tried to organised famers in a bid to benefit them with additional income. Shubhika Jain is making handmade papers from banana stem fibre and aromatic oils from local herbs. She buys banana stem which normally goes as waste after banana harvesting.


Talking to TOI, Shubhika said, "Though Chhattisgarh is rich in green belt, still for my products like essential oils, which are extremely concentrated requires abundant quantity of specific herbs to meet the high production. So, besides growing aromatic herbs in thirty acres of on our land, I also procure herbs from 6,000 farmers based in Bastar region. These farmers get a substantial share of profit from selling oil and guaranteed buy back amount of per kg of the bio-mass." Its been one and half year since Shubhika has started her export business and it is in its initial phases. I had exported handmade paper to Dubai, Pakistan, Singapore, while sent samples for further order to buyers based in London and Russia. So far, essential oils are sold in markets of Germany and USA, Shubhika said.


Shubhikas family business is in research and development of bio-technology and has a buy back policy in tissue culture raised banana plants and they procure banana fibre for handmade paper. Hence by selling back the fibre, the farmers earn up to Rs 16,000 from each acres. She believes in team work and the success and scope of her work depends on success of farmers so to motivate farmers, buying back policy for fibre adds additional income in farmers books. While four machines, which crush the fibre to obtain the smooth part for making handmade papers are installed in villages of Kawardha and Bemetara districts and here farmers are informed to get benefit of making extra income by selling the banana fibre to them.


Despite the low demand of handmade paper in domestic markets of Chhattisgarh, the product is being sold in markets of Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and Maharashtra. To scale up demand locally Shubhika said, "Handmade papers are eco-friendly and this is one of the major reason I liked working for this product and to make it popular in residents taste I had developed the innovative variations of handmade papers made of cotton rags, silk, jute and leather. Hope people will adapt it use by trying it for once, Shubhika crosses her fingers and smiles."
 

 

Source :timesofindia.indiatimes.com

India's Oil Import From Middle East Rises To 59%

NEW DELHI: Reversing a two-year declining trend, India's reliance on the volatile Middle East region for meeting its crude oil needs has risen in 2015-16, with quantum jump in buying from Iraq.

India imported 109.09 million tonnes of crude from the 10 nations in the Middle East during first 11 months of 2015-16 fiscal, Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan told Lok Sabha here.

The region supplied 59.22 per cent of the total 184.21 million tonnes of crude oil imported by India during April, 2015 and February, 2016.

In the entire 2014-15 fiscal, India had imported 109.88 million tonnes or 58 per cent of its entire oil need of 189.44 million tonnes, from the Middle East.

The reliance on the Middle East in that year had declined from 61 per cent in the previous 2013-14 fiscal when the region supplied a total of 115.86 million tonnes of oil. In 2012-13, the Middle East accounted for 62.44 per cent of oil supplies.

In a written reply to a question, Pradhan said Saudi Arabia continues to remain India's number one crude oil supplier, selling 37.10 million tonnes of oil in April-February period of the last fiscal. Saudi supplies were up from 35 million tonnes in 2014-15.

Imports from Iraq however saw the biggest jump - rising from about 24.5 million tonnes level of the past three years to 32.97 million tonnes - in April-February of 2015-16.

Iran sold 10.58 million tonnes of oil in the first 11 months of 2015-16, as against 10.95 million tonnes in the full 2014-15 fiscal. Import from Iran in 2013-14 was 11 million tonnes and in 2012-13 it was 13.14 million tonnes.

Pradhan said supplies from Kuwait has however dipped to 10.13 million tonnes from 17.85 million tonnes in 2014-15. Imports from the UAE also dipped to 14.03 million tonnes from 16.11 million tonnes.

Africa overtook South America to become the second biggest source of crude oil supplies during April-February. It supplied 35.69 million tonnes of oil, ahead of 28.10 million tonnes coming from Latin America.

In 2014-15, South America had supplied 34.46 million tonnes with Venezuela selling 24.4 million tonnes. In April-February 2015-16, Venezuelan supplies fell to 21.29 million tonnes.

Africa had in 2014-15 supplied 33.05 million tonnes of oil to India, bulk of it coming from Nigeria (17.82 million tonnes). In first 11 months of 2015-16, Nigeria sold 21.71 million tonnes of crude oil to India.

Besides crude oil, India also imported almost all of its 8.16 million tonnes LPG from the Middle East region. Qatar was the largest supplier with 3.163 million tonnes in April-February 2015-16, followed by Saudi Arabia (2.24 million tons), the UAE (1.49 million tonnes) and Kuwait (848,000 tonnes), he said.

 

Source :economictimes.indiatimes.com

Weather May Hit This Year’S Tea Production

KOLKATA: Erratic weather conditions in the major tea producing regions of Darjeeling, Dooars and Assam is likely to pull down tea production this year by 5-10%, industry executives said.

Darjeeling and parts of Dooars are witnessing a dry spell. On the other hand, tea gardens in Assam are facing incessant rains, which may bring down tea production in April by at least 10% from a year ago. "Darjeeling gardens are the worst hit. There is no rain in the area that produces the finest of Indian teas," said AN Singh, managing director, Goodricke GroupBSE 0.63 %.

"Ideally, by this time the gardens should have received 10 inches of rainfall. The gardens had received some 2 inches of sporadic rainfall in March which was not enough."

This continuous dry spell has already affected the famous first flush Darjeeling teas that are sold mostly overseas. "It is going to affect the second flush as well," Singh said. The 87 tea estates in Darjeeling produce 8.5-9 million kg annually. A part of Dooars has also not received rain which too will take a toll on the crop size, industry executives said.

"While the dry spell is affecting tea production in Darjeeling and Dooars, excessive rains in Assam has become a matter of concern to planters," said Aditya Khaitan, managing director of McLeod Russel IndiaBSE 1.45 %. "A clearer picture on the extent of crop damage will emerge by the month end. But definitely there will be some crop loss in the second half of April." Singh puts the crop loss at 5-10%.

"We are also worried over pest attack due to this erratic weather condition," he said. India had produced 75.61 million kg of tea in April 2015. Meanwhile, prices of new-season teas have dropped at the auctions in comparison with last year. CTC prices are down by 7.64% while dust tea is fetching 3.5% less. Khaitan said that since production was high, buyers were on a wait-and-watch mode, which has affected prices. "But in April, production will be lower. Prices will remain firm," he said.

 

Source :economictimes.indiatimes.com

Steel Imports Rise By 26% To 12 Mt In Fy'16

NEW DELHI: Steel imports increased by 25.6 per cent to 11.71 million tonnes in the last fiscal compared to 9.32 million tonnes (MT) in 2014-15.

Minister of State for Steel Vishnu Deo Sai in a written reply to Lok Sabha said that in 2015-16 the finished steel import was at 11.71 million tonnes (provisional).

The domestic production of finished steel in the last financial year declined to 90.39 million tonnes (provisional), over 92.16 million tonnes in 2014-15, Sai said.

The minister further said that after the issue of quality control order, import of seconds and defective products by some unscrupulous importers were reported in respect of some categories of steel products.

"However, the government does not maintain data on import, sale and storage of such sub-standard steel products standards-wise," he said.

In a separate reply to the house, the minister said that the government has long-term vision of increasing domestic steel production capacity to 300 million tonnes per annum by 2025.

"There are two steel projects of central public sector enterprises (CPSEs) under the Ministry of Steel with time overruns, namely, expansion of Bhilai Steel Plant and setting up of integrated steel plant at Nagarnar, Chhattisgarh, which are implemented by SAIL and NMDC respectively," the minister said.

 

Source :economictimes.indiatimes.com