Lok Sabha Question No. 872 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-07-23
Subject: Decline in Exports
Ministry: COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY
Asked by: NALIN KUMAR KATEEL, RAHUL KASWAN, VASANTHI M., T.G. VENKATESH BABU, RAMESH CHANDER KAUSHIK, PRALHAD VENKATESH JOSHI, B.N. CHANDRAPPA, DODDAALAHALLI KEMPEGOWDA SURESH

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 872 TO BE ANSWERED ON 23 rd  JULY,2018

## DECLINE IN EXPORTS

872. SHRI NALIN KUMAR KATEEL:

SHRI RAHUL KASWAN:

SHRIMATI VASANTHI M.:

SHRI VENKATESH BABU T.G.:

SHRI RAMESH CHANDER KAUSHIK:

SHRI PRALHAD JOSHI:

SHRI B.N. CHANDRAPPA:

SHRI D.K. SURESH:

Will the Minister of COMMERCE & INDUSTRY ( वाͨणÏय एवं उɮयोग मंğी ) be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  the  exports  from  the  country  have  registered  low  growth/all  time  low during the recent years and if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor, sectorwise along with the total export of various commodities during the last three years and the current year, country and commodity-wise indicating rate of export;
- (b) whether  the  Union  Government  has  recently  convened  a  meeting  with  the  State Governments and industry representatives to discuss ways and means to boost the country's exports;
- (c) if  so,  the  details  and  the  outcome  thereof  along  with  the  incentives/facilities proposed to various sectors and the targets for exports fixed for the next three years and if not, the reasons therefor;
- (d) whether the small and the medium exporters are experiencing many difficulties and if  so,  the  details  thereof  along  with  the  measures  taken  by  the  Government  to address the same; and
- (e) the steps taken by the Government to boost the country's export including the steps taken to make processes relating to trade simpler?

## ANSWER

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THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY (SHRI C. R. CHAUDHARY)

- (a): India's merchandise exports have increased since 2016-17. During the current period 2018-19 (Apr-June), India's exports registered a high positive growth of 14.21% as compared

to  the  corresponding  period  of  previous  year.  The  details  of  India's  exports  for  last  three years and the current year are as follows:

| Years               |   Value of Export (in US$ billions) | %Change   |
|---------------------|-------------------------------------|-----------|
| 2015-16             |                              262.29 | -15.49    |
| 2016-17             |                              275.85 | 5.17      |
| 2017-18             |                              303.38 | 9.98      |
| 2017-18 (Apr-June)  |                               72.21 | --        |
| 2018-19 (Apr-June)* |                               82.47 | 14.21     |

Source: DGCI&S, Kolkata (*: Quick Estimates)

The details of India's export to top 25 countries/SAR for last three years and the current year are given as follows:

(Value in US$ millions)

| S.No.                 | Country               |   2015-16 |   2016-17 |   2017-18 | 2017-18 (Apr- May)   | 2018-19 (Apr-May)*   |   %Growth rate in 2018-19 (Apr- May) over 2017- 18 (Apr-May) |
|-----------------------|-----------------------|-----------|-----------|-----------|----------------------|----------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------|
| 1                     | U S A                 |  40340    |  42216.5  |  47882.6  | 7,762.82             | 8,737.00             |                                                        12.55 |
| 2                     | U Arab Emts           |  30316.5  |  31175.5  |  28145.6  | 5,966.78             | 6,116.79             |                                                         2.51 |
| 3                     | China P RP            |   9014.55 |  10172.4  |  13337.7  | 1,737.97             | 2,644.77             |                                                        52.18 |
| 4                     | Hong Kong             |  12092.3  |  14047.2  |  14690.3  | 2,885.63             | 1,875.23             |                                                       -35.01 |
| 5                     | Singapore             |   7719.97 |   9564.67 |  10202.2  | 1,420.73             | 1,831.69             |                                                        28.93 |
| 6                     | Netherland            |   4727.39 |   5071.22 |   6263.27 | 702.82               | 1,556.32             |                                                       121.44 |
| 7                     | Germany               |   7094.55 |   7183.86 |   8689.24 | 1,310.48             | 1,468.17             |                                                        12.03 |
| 8                     | U K                   |   8857.77 |   8551.14 |   9712.59 | 1,462.31             | 1,453.40             |                                                        -0.61 |
| 9                     | Bangladesh PR         |   6034.96 |   6820.13 |   8460.34 | 1,279.47             | 1,419.49             |                                                        10.94 |
| 10                    | Nepal                 |   3902.7  |   5453.59 |   6597.09 | 964.72               | 1,297.21             |                                                        34.46 |
| 11                    | Belgium               |   5027.65 |   5656.92 |   6206.92 | 939.32               | 1,244.88             |                                                        32.53 |
| 12                    | Vietnam Soc Rep       |   5265.99 |   6786.56 |   7813.08 | 974.43               | 1,220.98             |                                                        25.3  |
| 13                    | Turkey                |   4140.01 |   4626.59 |   5090.7  | 807.06               | 1,077.12             |                                                        33.46 |
| 14                    | Saudi Arab            |   6381.72 |   5110.28 |   5410.7  | 860.53               | 971.79               |                                                        12.93 |
| 15                    | Italy                 |   4218.21 |   4902.7  |   5710.27 | 1,020.58             | 933.77               |                                                        -8.51 |
| 16                    | Malaysia              |   3706.88 |   5224.88 |   5700.12 | 752.18               | 921.05               |                                                        22.45 |
| 17                    | South Africa          |   3588.08 |   3545.97 |   3825.22 | 627.74               | 873.12               |                                                        39.09 |
| 18                    | France                |   4633.77 |   5250.27 |   4901.61 | 811.71               | 844.17               |                                                         4    |
| 19                    | Korea Rp              |   3524.51 |   4242.56 |   4462.14 | 868.45               | 811.08               |                                                        -6.61 |
| 20                    | Japan                 |   4663.09 |   3845.82 |   4734.75 | 663.87               | 726.80               |                                                         9.48 |
| 21                    | Indonesia             |   2819.49 |   3488.16 |   3965.56 | 568.77               | 713.38               |                                                        25.43 |
| 22                    | Mexico                |   2865.13 |   3460.98 |   3782.79 | 651.66               | 706.82               |                                                         8.46 |
| 23                    | Thailand              |   2987.86 |   3133.44 |   3653.66 | 550.51               | 685.37               |                                                        24.5  |
| 24                    | Spain                 |   3237.46 |   3426.13 |   3996.15 | 676.69               | 684.62               |                                                         1.17 |
| 25                    | Sri Lanka DSR         |   5310.75 |   3913.15 |   4476.33 | 612.58               | 676.27               |                                                        10.4  |
| Total export to above | Total export to above | 192471    | 206871    | 227711    | 36,879.81            | 41521.57             |                                                        12.59 |

| %Share of above      |   73.38 |   74.99 |   75.06 | 76.00     |   75.71 |    -- |
|----------------------|---------|---------|---------|-----------|---------|-------|
| India's total export |  262291 |  275852 |  303376 | 48,524.60 | 54841.3 | 13.02 |

Source: DGCI&S, Kolkata (*: Provisional)

The sector-wise India's export for last three years and the current year are given as follows:

(Value in US$ millions)

|   S. No. | Sectors                                               |   2015-16 |   2016-17 |   2017-18 |   2017-18 (Apr- May) |   2018-19 (Apr- May)* |   %Growth rate in 2018-19 (Apr-May) over 2017-18 (Apr- May) |
|----------|-------------------------------------------------------|-----------|-----------|-----------|----------------------|-----------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------|
|        1 | Engineering Goods                                     |  61949.5  |  67216.1  |  78706.4  |             12297.7  |              14368.8  |                                                       16.84 |
|        2 | Petroleum Products                                    |  30582.6  |  31545.3  |  37456.7  |              5274.95 |               8112.03 |                                                       53.78 |
|        3 | Gems And Jewellery                                    |  39284.3  |  43412.8  |  41544.4  |              7910.19 |               6972.77 |                                                      -11.85 |
|        4 | Organic& Inorganic Chemicals                          |  13697    |  14476.9  |  18497.6  |              2542.03 |               3521.96 |                                                       38.55 |
|        5 | Drugs And Pharmaceuticals                             |  16909.5  |  16785    |  17282.4  |              2502.48 |               2988.42 |                                                       19.42 |
|        6 | RMGof all Textiles                                    |  16964.4  |  17368.2  |  16706.8  |              3353.18 |               2686.69 |                                                      -19.88 |
|        7 | Cotton Yarn/Fabs./Madeups, Handloom Products Etc.     |  10119.4  |   9862.2  |  10257.6  |              1533.28 |               1841.11 |                                                       20.08 |
|        8 | Rice                                                  |   5846.62 |   5733.79 |   7733.87 |              1222.48 |               1420.45 |                                                       16.19 |
|        9 | Plastic And Linoleum                                  |   5764.18 |   5796.46 |   6850.86 |              1015.96 |               1358.74 |                                                       33.74 |
|       10 | Electronic Goods                                      |   5959.52 |   5962.93 |   6393.93 |              1014.31 |               1159.88 |                                                       14.35 |
|       11 | Marine Products                                       |   4767.51 |   5903.06 |   7387.72 |              1032.66 |               1062.23 |                                                        2.86 |
|       12 | Man-Made Yarn/Fabs./Madeups                           |   4621.66 |   4557.08 |   4826.35 |               781.01 |                837.28 |                                                        7.21 |
|       13 | Leather And Leather Manufactures                      |   5407.84 |   5165.6  |   5288.93 |               821.92 |                816.78 |                                                       -0.63 |
|       14 | Meat, Dairy& Poultry Products                         |   4575.47 |   4368.79 |   4610.08 |               616.6  |                707.18 |                                                       14.69 |
|       15 | Mica, Coal And Other Ores, Minerals Including Process |   3656.04 |   3578.16 |   3775.04 |               663.64 |                700.86 |                                                        5.61 |
|       16 | Spices                                                |   2541.46 |   2851.95 |   3105.93 |               534.71 |                556.71 |                                                        4.11 |
|       17 | Fruits And Vegetables                                 |   2268.81 |   2454.72 |   2450    |               418.03 |                399.68 |                                                       -4.39 |
|       18 | Ceramic Products& Glassware                           |   1712.05 |   1856.63 |   2131.35 |               346.34 |                392.66 |                                                       13.37 |
|       19 | Handicrafts Excl. Hand Made Carpet                    |   1648    |   1926.75 |   1822.54 |               295.99 |                286    |                                                       -3.38 |
|       20 | Cereal Preparations And Miscellaneous Processed Item  |   1319.75 |   1270.85 |   1416.81 |               221.96 |                241.6  |                                                        8.85 |
|       21 | Carpet                                                |   1440.07 |   1490.19 |   1429.76 |               241.36 |                233.47 |                                                       -3.27 |
|       22 | Oil Seeds                                             |   1246.89 |   1355.23 |   1174.34 |               171.09 |                183.42 |                                                        7.21 |
|       23 | Oil Meals                                             |    553.01 |    805.45 |   1089.88 |               173.25 |                176.42 |                                                        1.83 |
|       24 | Iron Ore                                              |    191.46 |   1533.53 |   1471.06 |               279.38 |                171.72 |                                                      -38.54 |
|       25 | Coffee                                                |    783.87 |    842.84 |    968.57 |               179.01 |                169.31 |                                                       -5.41 |
|       26 | Tobacco                                               |    982.01 |    958.69 |    934.23 |               155.78 |                153.83 |                                                       -1.25 |
|       27 | Tea                                                   |    720.03 |    731.26 |    837.33 |                99.36 |                104.51 |                                                        5.18 |
|       28 | Cashew                                                |    768.55 |    786.93 |    922.41 |               160.59 |                 98.14 |                                                      -38.89 |
|       29 | Other Cereals                                         |    261.18 |    212.3  |    248.26 |                28.25 |                 74.92 |                                                      165.23 |
|       30 | Jute Mfg. Including Floor Covering                    |    295.36 |    309.95 |    335.08 |                51.32 |                 49.2  |                                                       -4.12 |
|       31 | Others                                                |  15453.1  |  14733    |  15720    |              2585.84 |               2994.53 |                                                       15.8  |

Source: DGCI&S, Kolkata (*: Provisional)

(b) & (c): The 3 rd meeting of Council for Trade Development & Promotion was held on 8 th January, 2018 in New Delhi under the Chairmanship of Hon'ble Commerce & Industry Minister  in  which  representative  from  28  states  and  4  UTs  participated,  including  13 Ministers. The State/UT representatives articulated their perspective on the trade policy, the need for creating more awareness about export related issues and resolved to jointly address impediments  in  trade  which  affect  India's  exports.  The  major  issues  discussed  were promoting services exports, organic farming, value addition to agricultural products including facilitation  for  branding,  promotion,  packing and developing  post-harvest  infrastructure for agri-horticultural product exports, facilitation to exporters and creation of export infrastructure at the borders. As per Foreign Trade Policy 2015-20, the Government aims to increase India's exports of merchandise and services from US$ 465.9 billions to approximately  US$  900  billions  by  2019-20  and  to  raise  India's  share  in  world  exports (Goods and Services) from 2% to 3.5%.

(d): Small and medium exporters are experiencing teething problems while coping up with the new tax regime i.e. GST. Further, limited exposure of the MSMEs  to the seminar/workshops in small cities adds to the problem. The Government has taken several measures to address the problems. Specialized training programme on packaging for exports for MSE units are organized through its field offices i.e. MSME-DIs, in collaboration with Indian Institute of Packaging (IIP), Mumbai and other such institutions. The main objective of  the  programme  is  to  impart  training  to  MSMEs/Exporters  on  packaging  technology, scientific  packaging techniques,  latest  designs  of  packaging,  improving  their  packaging standards and  overall appearance, durability, value of products and  highlighting the importance  of  packaging  in  marketing.  17  MSEs  have  been  nominated  to  participate in various International Trade Fairs in different countries and provide subsidies to the tune of around Rs. 24 lakhs during the year 2017-18 to explore export opportunities of their products. 75 SME export-units have been trained in GST in association with O/o the Commissioner of Commercial  Taxes,  Govt.  of West  Bengal  to  make  them  aware  of  the  GST  obligations  in exporting their products.

(e): In order to boost India's exports, the Government announced a major relief package for  exporters  in  October  2017  by  extending  the  Advance  Authorization  (AA)/  Export Promotion  of  Capital  Goods  (EPCG)/  100%  EOU  schemes  to  sourcing  inputs  etc.  from abroad as well as domestic suppliers.  During the mid-term review of Foreign Trade Policy in December 2017, export incentives under Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS)

have  been  increased  by  2%  for  labour  intensive  and  MSME  sectors  leading  to  additional annual  incentive of  Rs 4,567 crore.  This  was  in  addition  to  already announced    increasein MEIS incentives  from  2%  to  4%  for  Ready-made  Garments  and  Made  Ups  in  the  labour intensive  Textiles  Sector  with  an  additional  annual  incentive  of  Rs  2,743  crore.  Further, incentives under Services Exports from India Scheme (SEIS) have also been increased by 2% leading to additional annual incentive of Rs 1,140 crore.

The following steps have been taken to make the process of availing the benefits of these schemes simpler:

- a) Processing of MEIS applications has been made based on HS Codes only, except for a few items.
- b) The MEIS schedule has been harmonized with the ITC HS 2017.
- c) The free of cost exports value limit has been increased to Rs 1 Crore and for pharma exports,  the  limit  has  been  raised  to  8%  of  total  exports,  if  supplied  to  certain organizations such as Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) etc.
- d) The  validity  of  scrips  under  Chapter  3  has  been  increased  to  24  months  from  18 months.
- e) As  part  of  the  'Ease  of  Doing  Business'  initiatives,  the  Government  has  launched Single  Window  Interface  for  Facilitating  Trade  (SWIFT)  clearances  project  w.e.f  1 st April, 2016. The scheme enables the importers/exporters to file a common electronic 'Integrated Declaration' on the Indian Customs Electronic Commerce/Electronic Data Interchange  (EC/EDI)  Gateway  i.e.  ICEGATE  portal.  The  Integrated  Declaration compiles the information requirements of Customs, FSSAI, Plant Quarantine, Animal Quarantine,  Drug  Controller,  Wild  Life  Control  Bureau  and  Textile  Committee.  It replaces nine separate forms required by these 6 different agencies and Customs.

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