NEW DELHI: The government will soon come up with schemes to offer exporters loans, including foreign exchange credit, at less than 4% interest rate, and enhance insurance cover to up to 90% against 60% now, commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal has said.
“We are concerned that it (export credit) has fallen, and will come up with the contours of a vibrant programme (to address the issue) soon, which will particularly support micro, small and medium enterprises,” Goyal said while addressing a meeting of the Board of Trade.
Export credit disbursement declined 23% in 2018-19 to Rs 9.57 lakh crore from Rs 12.39 lakh crore in 2017-18. Goyal said his ministry is waiting for finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman to take a call on some issues on export credit.
The bankers are on board and “...we shall shortly be coming out with the contours that have been finalised between the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the finance ministry and the commerce ministry,” he said.
Total exports crossed half-atrillion-dollar mark at $537 billion in 2018-19, but the India needs to achieve $1 trillion of exports a year in the next five years, Goyal said.
In April-July 2019, India’s exports dipped 0.37% to $107.41 billion, while imports contracted 3.63% to $166.8 billion. Outward shipments of gems and jewellery fell 6.82% in July, while those of engineering goods declined 1.69% and petroleum products by 5%.
Noting that there has not been much growth in exports this year, Goyal said it is disappointing as India has a huge potential for exports due to the trade dispute between the US and China.
The commerce department has identified 150-odd products, including diesel engines, X-ray tubes, antibiotics, copper ores and granite, where India can displace US exports to China, and 203 products where exports could be raised to the US, replacing Chinese goods.
“This has provided a window of opportunity to Indian manufacturers for taking up exports of products to US or China where the higher tariffs have been imposed on imports from the other country,” Goyal said.
To achieve this, India needs to work on its strengths by exploring market access for agriculture and pharma products in different regions, he said.
Source: economictimes.indiatimes.com