Lok Sabha Question No. 2822 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-08-03
Subject: Export from Assam
Ministry: COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY
Asked by: Kripanath Mallah

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2822 TO BE ANSWERED ON 3 rd  AUGUST, 2022

## EXPORT FROM ASSAM

## 2822.  SHRI KRIPANATH MALLAH:

Will the Minister of COMMERCE & INDUSTRY ( वाणिज्य एवं उद्योग मंत्री ) be pleased to state:

- (a) the initiatives taken by the Government for export growth within Assam so far;
- (b) the details of the funds sanctioned, allocated and utilized for this within Assam so far;
- (c) the details of the target set and achievements made so far along with the response in this regard;
- (d) whether a significant increase has been recorded after these initiatives within Assam and if so, the details thereof; and
- (e) whether the Government has signed an MoU as a further step towards these initiatives within Assam and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

okf.kT; ,oa m|ksx ea=ky; esa jkT; ea=h ¼Jherh vuqfiz;k iVsy½

THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY (SMT. ANUPRIYA PATEL)

- (a) : The major initiatives taken by the government for export growth from Assam are as below:
- (1) Steps taken by Agricultural & Processed Food Products Export Development Authority ( APEDA ) :
- i. Organizing International Buyer-Seller Meet (BSM) in North East to boost export for the region.
- ii. Providing financial assistance through Financial Assistance Scheme (FAS) to facilitate the exporters of Agri - products by providing assistance to exporters under the following components (i) Development of Export Infrastructure, (ii) Quality development and Market Development
- iii. Organizing several sensitization meeting / programs in NER in association with State  Departments,  State  Agriculture  Universities,  Krishi  Vikash  Kendra, Farmers for identification of progressive Farmers groups and strengthening the export linkage of FPOs/FPCs.
- iv. Export oriented production clusters have  been identified and notified in various districts under Agri Export policy.
- (2)  Intensive Buyer-Seller Meet (BSM) for the tea importers from Russian Federation, UAE &  the  GCC  countries  were  organized  on  virtual  platforms  during  Sep-Oct  2020  in collaboration with the Indian Missions in Moscow and Dubai respectively, where a couple of exporters from the NER participated for promotion of 'Assam Orthodox Teas' and 'Assam CTC Teas'. Furthermore, Financial assistance to stakeholders for export of tea through  the  ICD  Amingaon  is  provided  under  the  Tea  Development  &  Promotion Scheme.
- (3) The initiatives taken by Spices board include Implementing various schemes for postharvest improvement and export promotion of spices, benefiting stakeholders of the Spices Sector in Assam. Under the Integrated Scheme for Export Promotion & Quality Improvement in  Spices  and  Research  &  Development  of  Cardamom-  from  FY  2021-22,  various programmes have been implemented by the Spices Board, in the State of Assam:
- i. Organized  Quality Improvement  training programs  (QITP)  benefitting  500 beneficiaries of Assam to provide training on quality and safety aspects of spices in  line  with  the  applicable  standards  of  various  importing  countries,  so  as  to facilitate generation of an exportable surplus.
- ii. Provides a platform for interaction and building direct market linkages between spice growers, exporters and importers, by organizing Buyer Seller Meet(BSM) meets across India. During FY 2022-23, an International Buyer Seller Meet(IBSM) and Spices Conclave was held at Guwahati, Assam.
- (4)  Under  Trade  Infrastructure  for  Export  Scheme  (TIES),  the  Central  Government assistance  for  infrastructure  creation  is  in  the  form  of  grant-in-aid.  For  the  projects located in North Eastern States this grant can be upto 80% of the total equity.
- (b)  to (d) : The funds spent by Tea Board, Spices Board, APEDA and TIES is at Annexure.  The overall exports from Assam during the three years is as below :-

| FINANCIAL YEAR   |   EXPORT VALUE (IN Million USD) | %GROWTH   |
|------------------|---------------------------------|-----------|
| 2019-20          |                          436.72 |           |
| 2020-21          |                          415.62 | -4.83     |
| 2021-22          |                          450.42 | 8.37      |

Source:  DGCIS

(e): APEDA has signed an MOU with Assam Agriculture University, Jorhat to conduct various  training  program  on  pre-harvest,  post-harvest  management  and  other  research programs for promotion of export from the region.

*****

## ANNEXURE

## Annexure mentioned in reply to Parts (b) to (d) of Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No.2822 for answer on 03-08-2022 - The funds spent by Tea Board, Spices Board, APEDA and TIES

- (i) Funds utilized by Tea Board and Spices Board for Assam during the period 2019-20 to 2021-22 are as under :

(Rs. In lakh)

|   Sr. No | Year    |   Tea Board |   Spices Board |
|----------|---------|-------------|----------------|
|        1 | 2019-20 |         307 |          13.97 |
|        2 | 2020-21 |         427 |          34.3  |
|        3 | 2021-22 |         130 |          60.95 |

- (ii) Funds  spent  by  APEDA  for  promotion  of  exports  in  North  Eastern  Region  which includes Assam under the Financial Assistance Scheme are as follows :
- (iii) The details of funds provided for approved projects in Assam under TIES is as follows:

|   Sr. No | Year    | Amount spent in NER   |
|----------|---------|-----------------------|
|        1 | 2019-20 | Rs.5.40 Crore         |
|        2 | 2020-21 | Rs. 3.00 Crore        |
|        3 | 2021-22 | Rs. 5.40 Crore        |

(Amount in Cr.)

*******

|   No. of projects approved under TIES |   Total TIES share for approved projects Total TIES grant released, till date |   Total TIES share for approved projects Total TIES grant released, till date |
|---------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                                    02 |                                                                         22.93 |                                                                         15.42 |