(a) whether it is a fact that growth in exports of labour- intensive products such as readymade garments, leather, and agriculture and allied products (rice, fruits and vegetables, meat, dairy, and poultry, and seafood) have slowed down after a transitory pickup in early 2021; and
(b) if so, the details thereof, along with the corrective steps taken/being taken by the Government to tackle this issue?
THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY
(SMT. ANUPRIYA PATEL)
(a): The month-wise value of export of readymade garments (RMG) of all textiles, leather & leather products and agriculture and allied products namely rice, fruits & vegetables, meat, dairy & poultry products and marine products for months of January to October 2020 and January to October 2021 along with growth is at Annexure-I. There has been a positive growth in exports of these labour intensive products since February 2021 till October 2021 as compared to the same months of previous year.
(b): Government has taken several measures to boost exports such as:
(i) Based on Mid-term Review of the FTP 2015-20 undertaken on 5th December, 2017, incentives for labour intensive / MSME sectors were increased.
(ii) Foreign Trade Policy (2015-20) extended by one year i.e. upto 31-3-2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic situation.
(iii) A Farmer Connect Portal has been set up for providing a platform for farmers, Farmer-Producer Organizations (FPOs) and cooperatives to interact with exporters. Buyer-Seller Meets (BSMs) have been organized in the clusters to provide export-market linkages.
(iv) Assistance provided through several schemes to promote exports, namely, Trade Infrastructure for Export Scheme (TIES), Market Access Initiatives (MAI) Scheme, export promotion schemes of Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA), Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), Tea Board, Coffee Board and Spices Board.
(v) A Central Sector Scheme –‘Transport and Marketing Assistance for Specified Agriculture Products’ – for providing assistance for the international component of freight to mitigate the freight disadvantage for the export of agriculture products.
(vi) Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products (RoDTEP) scheme and Rebate of State and Central Levies and Taxes (RoSCTL) Scheme have been launched with effect from 01.01.2021.
(vii) Promoting Districts as export hubs by identifying products with export potential in each district, addressing bottlenecks for exporting these products and supporting local exporters/manufacturers to generate employment in the district
(viii) Common Digital Platform for Certificate of Origin has been launched to facilitate trade and increase FTA utilization by exporters.
(ix) Active role of Indian missions abroad towards promoting our trade, tourism, technology and investment goals has been enhanced.
(x) Package announced in light of the COVID-19 pandemic to support domestic industry through various banking and financial sector relief measures, especially for MSMEs, which constitute a major share in exports.
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Annexure-I
Statement referred to in reply of part (a) of Lok Sabha Unstarred question no. 1743 for answer on 8th December 2021.
Month-wise export of labour intensive products and its growth rate from January to October 2020 and January to October 2021
(Value in US$ Million)
Commodities RMG of all Textiles Leather & leather products Rice Fruits & Vegetables Meat, dairy & poultry products Marine Products Overall
Jan, 20 1451.4 406.9 598.8 181.6 324.1 431.8 2962.8
Jan, 21 1295.7 331.2 756.5 225.8 298.1 424.4 2907.3
% Change -10.7 -18.6 26.3 24.3 -8.0 -1.7 -1.9
Feb, 20 1474.4 381.3 698.7 289.7 243.4 441.1 3087.5
Feb, 21 1349.1 298.9 913.7 280.0 307.7 440.1 3149.4
% Change -8.5 -21.6 30.8 -3.3 26.4 -0.2 2.0
Mar, 20 1118.0 260.8 668.2 303.3 225.6 393.6 2575.8
Mar, 21 1425.6 317.8 1114.3 376.0 344.7 554.3 3578.2
% Change 27.5 21.9 66.8 24.0 52.8 40.8 38.9
Apr, 20 126.3 22.3 548.0 203.3 138.8 264.5 1038.6
Apr, 21 1297.3 289.6 885.7 254.9 345.3 549.9 3072.8
% Change 927.1 1201.4 61.6 25.4 148.8 107.9 195.9
May, 20 516.6 106.3 685.2 191.5 141.1 429.9 1640.6
May, 21 1106.7 271.1 771.8 177.9 347.6 574.3 2675.0
% Change 114.2 155.1 12.6 -7.1 146.5 33.6 63.1
Jun, 20 803.4 244.9 681.3 189.8 203.7 482.8 2123.0
Jun, 21 1001.6 325.0 741.3 205.4 329.6 645.7 2602.9
% Change 24.7 32.7 8.8 8.3 61.8 33.7 22.6
Jul, 20 1063.2 333.0 759.4 214.9 376.9 475.0 2747.3
Jul, 21 1388.4 387.8 704.4 216.7 256.4 701.5 2953.5
% Change 30.6 16.5 -7.3 0.8 -32.0 47.7 7.5
Aug, 20 1083.9 356.2 663.1 196.0 324.7 455.6 2623.8
Aug, 21 1236.9 385.9 716.6 219.9 274.9 686.6 2834.1
% Change 14.1 8.3 8.1 12.2 -15.4 50.7 8.0
Sept, 20 1190.1 358.4 725.1 191.8 390.7 602.1 2856.2
Sept, 21 1300.4 385.0 770.3 234.7 348.9 678.4 3039.1
% Change 9.3 7.4 6.2 22.3 -10.7 12.7 6.4
Oct, 20 1177.3 320.8 685.4 165.6 401.8 684.1 2750.9
Oct, 21 1253.1 371.0 688.9 224.6 383.7 807.8 2921.3
% Change 6.4 15.7 0.5 35.7 -4.5 18.1 6.2
Source: DGCI&S, Data are provisional for year 2021