(a) whether India has extended tariff concessions to 111 items exported from Bangladesh;
(b) if so, the details thereof;
(c) whether the trade volume between India and Bangladesh has increased;
(d) whether tariff concessions mutually benefits both the countries; and
(e) if so, the details thereof?
MINISTER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY (SHRI ARUN JAITLEY)
(a) & (b) During the Fourth Round of Trade Negotiations under SAARC Preferential Trading Arrangement (SAPTA) which concluded on 1st November, 2002, India granted tariff concessions on a total of 111 items to the Least Developed Member Countries of SAARC including Bangladesh. Of these, 107 items were from the request list of Bangladesh and four others from that of Maldives. The details of the list of items is available in the Customs Notification No.13/2003-Customs dated 20th January, 2003.
(c) The details of the trade volume between India and Bangladesh over the last five years are given below :
(Values in Rs. Lacs)
S.No. Year 1997-1998 1998-1999 1999-2000 2000-2001 2001-2002
1. EXPORT 292,287.13 418,871.50 275,728.38 427,168.66 477,957.97
2. %Growth 43.31 -34.17 54.92 11.89
3. IMPORT 18,884.54 26,252.50 33,865.95 36,778.27 28,194.03
4. %Growth 39.02 29.00 8.60 -23.34
5. TOTAL TRADE 311,171.66 445,124.00 309,594.32 463,946.92 506,152.00 6. %Growth 43.05 -30.45 49.86 9.10