Question : Meeting of Council of Trade Development and Promotion

(a) whether the Government has held third meeting of the Council for Trade Development and Promotion recently;
(b) if so, the details thereof along with the issues discussed therein and the number of States which have participated in the meeting;
(c) whether the Government has proposed incentives for States which play a proactive role in promoting exports and if so, the details thereof;
(d) whether the Government has also asked the States to appoint at least one nodal officer at the district level which is closest to the local market; and
(e) if so, the response of the State Governments thereto along with the other steps taken by the Government to promote overall exports and push the country’s industrial growth?

THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY
(SHRI C. R. CHAUDHARY)

(a) & (b) Yes, Madam. The 3rd Meeting of the Council for Trade Development and Promotion was held on 08th January, 2018 in New Delhi under the Chairmanship of Hon''ble Commerce & Industry Minister in which representatives of 28 states and 4 UT’s participated. The 13 Industry/Trade Ministers who are Members of the Council and the other State/UT representatives articulated their perspective of the trade policy, need for creating more awareness of export related issues and resolved to jointly address impediments in trade which affect India’s exports. The major issues discussed were promoting services exports, organic farming, value addition to agricultural products including facilitation for branding, promotion, packing and developing post-harvest infrastructure for agro-horti product exports, facilitation to exporters and creation of export infrastructure at the borders.
(c) No Madam.
(d) & (e) No, Madam. The other steps taken by the Government to promote overall exports and push the country’s industrial growth are:
i) During the mid-term review of the Foreign Trade Policy in December 2017, in order to boost exports, incentives under Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS) were increased by 2% for labour intensive MSME sectors leading to additional annual incentive of Rs 4,567 Cr.
ii) Increase in MEIS incentives from 2% to 4% for Ready Made garments and Made ups in the labour intensive Textiles sector with an additional annual incentive of Rs 2,743 Cr .
iii) Incentives under Services Exports From India Scheme (SEIS) have also been increased by 2% leading to additional annual incentive of Rs 1,140 Cr at the mid-term review of the Policy.
iv) Apart from the above, the Government is continuously taking steps to boost growth in industries which inter alia includes creating conducive business environment, strengthening infrastructure, strengthening intellectual property regimes, promoting investment and promoting the startup ecosystem.
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