GOVERNMENT TO FOCUS ON MAKING EXPORTS
MORE COMPETITIVE: ARUN JAITLEY
CAPEXIL
EXPORT AWARDS PRESENTED
Shri Arun Jaitley,
Union Minister of Commerce & Industry and Law & Justice,
has said that the government will provide all incentives to make
Indian exports more competitive globally. Addressing the export
awards presentation function of Chemicals & Allied Products
Export Promotion Council (CAPEXIL) here today, Shri Jaitley said
that the government was fully conscious of the fact that: "
Unless we are able to provide a level playing field for our exporters
vis-à-vis our competitors abroad, the competitiveness of
India’s exports in the international market will be affected…Therefore,
we will take all steps necessary to make our exports competitive".
In this context, he welcomed the announcement made by the Union
Labour Minister Shri Sahib Singh Verma, exempting Special Economic
Zones (SEZs) from contribution to provident fund and employee’s
insurance scheme as a step in the right direction, which would
serve as a significant incentive for attaining a quantum jump
in exports over a period of time.
Describing current
year 2003-04 as a challenging year for exports, Shri Jaitley complimented
the award winners for their entrepreneurship and enterprise and
noted that despite hardening of rupee against the US $ and adverse
external factors including slowdown in some of the world’s major
economies, India’s exports had managed to sustain a double digit
growth so far. He also underlined the vital role played by exports
in the economy as a source of employment and revenue generation.
Shri Dipak Chatterjee, Commerce Secretary, congratulated the CAPEXIL
award winners and said that their success will motivate other
exporters to perform better.
Shri M. F. Vohra,
Chairman of CAPEXIL, informed that exports under CAPEXIL has grown
by an impressive 17.7%, clocking an export of US $ 3.89 billion
during the year 2002-03. During the first quarter of the current
financial year, exports under the Council have shown a growth
of 18.76%. For the current fiscal year 2003-04, exports under
CAPEXIL is expected to reach US $ 4.34 billion with a targeted
growth of above 11%. While referring to policy and infrastructure
bottlenecks, he cited inadequacies of infrastructure, high transaction
cost, incidence of local taxes and levies on export as some of
the problem areas.
Shri S. D. Kapoor,
Chairman, MMTC Ltd. received the top export award from the Minister.
MMTC exported iron ore, chrome ore, manganese ore, etc. worth
Rs. 128145.00 lakhs to countries like Japan, China, Korea, and
Pakistan etc. National Aluminium Co. Ltd. won highest export award
in Mineral and Ore sector for 2002-03. For non-mineral sector
highest export award was awarded to J. K. Industries Ltd.
