(a) whether the export growth target has been slashed to 3% during this year;
(b) if so, whether the Government have slashed the export growth target for 2000-01 to 3% as against an earlier projection of 12 per cent;
(c) if so, the main reasons for the same; and
(d) the steps being taken by the Union Government in this regard?
THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY ( SHRI RAJIV PRATAP RUDY )
(a) to (c) : Yes, Sir. The overall annual export target of India has been revised to 3% from a level of 12% which was originally envisaged at the beginning of the current financial year, keeping in view the global economic conditions in general and the lower growth of world exports during the first half of 2001.
(d) Export promotion continues to be a major thrust area. Several measures to boost exports have been undertaken in order to provide competitive edge to the Indian goods in the International market. Some of the recent measures taken to promote exports include reduction in the export credit rate for both pre-shipment and post-shipment, special financial package to manufacturer exporters with an export contract of Rs. 100 crore or above for a period of one year, extension of normal repatriation period from 180 days to 360 days for exports for a period of one year and upward revision of duty draw back rates on a number of product groups. All this and other factors have helped to arrest the declining trend in exports experienced during the early part of the current financial year. Further, taking Stock of the developments in the recent past and considering the current global economic environment, the Medium Term Export Strategy for the period 2002-2007 has been announced.