Lok Sabha Question No. 2812 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2016-12-02
Subject: Farm Subsidies
Ministry: FINANCE
Asked by: GEETHA KOTHAPALLI

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## LOK SABHA

## Unstarred Question No.2812

## TO BE ANSWERED ON DECEMBER 02,2016/Agrahayalla ll,1938(Saka)

## Farm Subsidies

## QUESTION

## 2812. SHRIMATI  KOTHAPALLI  GEETHA:

Will the Minister  of FINANCE  be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government  has taken cognizance  of the World Bank's view for reducing farm subsidies, import tariff cuts on cars and improvement  in ports and logistic for boosting  of exports;
- (b) if so, the details thereof; and
- (c) the steps taken/  likely to be taken by the Government  in this regard?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER  OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF FINANCE  (SHRI ARJUN RAM MEGHWAL):

(a), (b) and (c): Yes Sir. World  Bank,s  Report on .South  Asia,s Turn: Policies to Boost Competitiveness  and Create the Next Export Powerhouse'  launched in October 2016' mentions about farm subsidies,  import  tariff on cars and improvement  in ports and logistics  for boosting of exports  in India'

The gradual reduction of import tariffs  experienced  by the Indian  auto  parts and commercial vehicle sectors has been appreciated by the World Bank Group in their report.  However  any further import tariff cuts on cars may affect the 'Make in India' initiative  of the Government  and manufacturing  of cars in the country  adversely'

The report mentions  about the farm subsidies  as counterproductive.  However, in India, the farm subsidies  are essential in order  to provide a revel  playing field to the farmers of

India whose competitiveness  is affected  due to the constraints of small land holdings, inadequate infrastructure  and technical knowledge, and labour intensive  practices.

Improvement of Logistics for boosting exports is an ongoing effort. In this regard, a number  of steps have been taken by the Government.

(i) The Department  of Commerce has been pursuing  with the concerned stakeholders including  Ministry of Shipping, Ministry of Railways  and Ministry of Road, Transport & Highways for improving logistics  for boosting exports.

(ii) A working group on infrastructure  upgradation has been constituted to assist the National Committee  on Trade facilitation  under the Chairmanship of Cabinet Secretary, an inter-ministerial  body constituted  to implement provisions of the Trade facilitation Agreement.

- (iii) By way of trade facilitation  and enhancing the ease of doing business, Government has reduced the number of mandatory  documents required for exports and imports to three each, which is comparable with international benchmarks.
- (iv) The trade community can file applications online for various trade related schemes. Online payment of application  fees through Credit/Debit cards and electronic  funds transfer  from 53 Banks  has been put in place.
- (v) Under 'The Assistance  to States for Development Export Infrastructure  and Allied Activities  (ASIDE)  scheme' both Centre and states together work towards creation  of export infrastructure  by optimizing  the utilization of resources to achieve  the objectives of export growth.

Further, the improvement  in efhciency and enhancement of capacity in major ports is a continuous  process. To increase efficiency and capacity of major ports the following steps have been taken:-

- (i) construction of new berths and terminals,
- (ii) mechanisation  of existing berths and terminals,
- (iii) capital dredging for deepening of drafts for attracting large of vessels  in port channels,
- (iv) installation  of vessel  traffic management system (VTMS),
- (vi) installation  of scanners  at all container  terminals,
- (v) implementation of Web Based Port Community  System,
- (vii) implementation of 104 initiatives  to reduce time and cost of operations  in ports to benchmark their perforrnance  to international  standards  (30 recommendations have been implemented and the remaining will be implemented in phases by 2019)
- (viii) Green  Port initiatives like creation  of Solar Power Projects, E- Governance  etc.