Lok Sabha Question No. 2800 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2020-03-11
Subject: Product and Destination Diversification
Ministry: COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY
Asked by: Sanjay(Kaka) Ramchandra Patil

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMERCE & INDUSTRY (DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE)

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2800 TO BE ANSWERED ON 11 th MARCH, 2020

## PRODUCT AND DESTINATION DIVERSIFICATION

## 2800.   SHRI SANJAY KAKA PATIL:

Will the Minister of COMMERCE & INDUSTRY ( वािण�य एवं उ�ोग मं�ी ) be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  the  Government  proposes  to  take  any  measure  to  promote  product  and destination diversification in order to improve the exports of the country;
- (b) if so, the details thereof;
- (c) if not, whether the Government is proposing an alternate measure towards increasing exports; and
- (d) if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## okf.kT; ,oa m|ksx ea=h ( Jh ih;w'k xks;y ) THE MINISTER OF  COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY (SHRI PIYUSH GOYAL)

(a) to (d) : Primary focus of major Government export promotion schemes/ policies is to refund duties and taxes levied on inputs used in production of export products, reduce cost disability by providing incentives to specified products and improve all-round ease of doing business. Overall thrust is on enhancing competitiveness and growth in exports of all products groups across all destinations. As a result, our export products and destinations are fairly diversified. In Financial Year 2018-19 products were exported to 233 countries/territories covering all big and small trading countries. During this period, we exported products in all the 168 principal commodity groups.

Government is taking holistic measures to make exports competitive whether it is ensuring access to  affordable  credit,  initiating  exporter  friendly  schemes,  promoting  districts  as  export  hubs, improving logistics and improving utilisation of Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) .

In order to boost India's exports, Government has taken several steps, including:

- (i) A new Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) 2015-20 was launched on 1 st April 2015. The policy, inter  alia,  rationalised the  earlier  export  promotion  schemes  and  introduced  two  new schemes, namely Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS) for improving export of  goods      and  'Services  Exports  from  India  Scheme  (SEIS)'  for  increasing  exports of services. Duty credit scrips issued under these schemes were made fully transferable.
- (ii) Based  on  Mid-term  Review  of  the  FTP  2015-20  undertaken  on  5th  December,  2017, incentives for labour intensive / MSME sectors were increased by 2%.
- (iii) A  new  Logistics  Division  was  created  in  the  Department  of  Commerce  for  integrated development of the logistics sector.  India's rank in World Bank's Logistics Performance Index moved up from 54 in 2014 to 44 in 2018.
- (iv) Interest Equalization Scheme on pre and post shipment rupee export credit was introduced from 1.4.2015 providing interest equalisation at 3% for labour intensive / MSME sectors. The rate was increased to 5% for MSME sectors with effect from 2.11.2018 and merchant exporters were covered under the scheme with effect from 2.1.2019.
- (v) For improving ease of doing business, online issuance of Importer Exporter Codes (IEC), has been started. India's rank in World Bank 'Ease of Doing Business' ranking improved from 142 in 2014 to 63 in 2019 with the rank in 'trading across borders' moving up from 122 to 80.
- (vi) A new scheme called 'Trade Infrastructure for Export Scheme (TIES)' was launched with effect from 1 st April 2017 to address the export infrastructure gaps in the country.
- (vii) A comprehensive 'Agriculture Export Policy' was launched on 6th December, 2018 with an aim to double farmers' income by 2022 and provide an impetus to agricultural exports.
- (viii) A new scheme called 'Transport and Marketing Assistance' (TMA) has been launched for  mitigating  disadvantage  of  higher  cost  of  transportation  for  export  of  specified agriculture products.