The first meeting of the Board of Trade and the Council of Trade Development and Promotion, after Piyush Goyal became the Union Minister of Commerce and Industry & Railways, sent a strong message to the industry, especially the exporters.
The minister urged the representatives of industry and exports bodies to stop depending on crutches of subsidies and grants from the Central Government and strive to make the industry more competitive and self-reliant.
He also called State Governments, Export Promotion Councils (EPCs) and industrial bodies to make all efforts to engage with the world from a position of strength.
The meeting was organised today by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) in New Delhi. Secretaries of various ministries including Textiles, MSME and other Ministries of Government of India, representatives of State Governments, CEO NITI Aayog, heads of industrial houses, representatives of EPCs were part of the meeting.
Stakeholders of the apparel industry gave mixed reactions, as the forward-looking group believes that there are not much subsidies for apparel manufacturers… On the other hand, exporters are still struggling to get their GST refund on time and easily there are still some unethical practices in the system and industry really needs subsidies. “Govt. can support specific projects as far as apparel industry is concerned,” said a top official of a textile-related EPC who didn’t want to be quoted.
“India and the world are now going through challenging times due to trade barriers and falling economic growth; therefore, there is a greater need for focused efforts to maintain our position and grow in world trade,” the minister added.
The minister met exporters and various officials to discuss plans to promote exports and accepted that on the whole exporters face higher interest, tax rates.
The Board of Trade advises the Commerce and Industry Ministry on policy measures connected with the Foreign Trade Policy in order to achieve the objectives of boosting India’s trade.
A representative from apparel industry present in the meeting told Apparel Resources, “The minister assured for more procedural simplification on a priority basis. Issues like logistic and GST refunds were also discussed. The minister asked that the railway will also explore how to leverage for the benefit of the industries.”
Source: https://in.apparelresources.com