Board of Trade likely to meet before Foreign Trade Policy

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The Board of Trade chaired by Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma is likely to meet soon before finalising the Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) to discuss measures to arrest the slowdown in export growth and contain the rising trade deficit.

The BoT, the top advisory body on external trade and which includes industry leaders like Anand Mahindra and Y.C. Deveshwar, is likely to meet before the announcement of FTP, which is likely to take place in mid-May, a senior official in the Commerce Ministry told agencies.

"The views of the board will be included in the FTP... both the government and the industry leaders will discuss ways to maintain India's export momentum amidst global economic uncertainties mainly in Europe," the official added.

The US and the 27-nation European Union are among India's biggest export destinations. These markets together accounted for about one-third of the country's total exports.

The BoT would also deliberate on the "procedural simplification and policy measures to mitigate fallout of the adverse scenario", the official added.

BoT comprises well-known industrialists and exporters such as TVS Motors chairman Venu Srinivasan, Ashok Leyland managing director R. Seshasayee, Apollo Tyres chairman and managing director Onkar S. Kanwar and Hero MotoCorp managing director Pawan Munjal.

Biocon chairperson and managing director Kiran Mazumdar Shaw and FIEO Chief Rafeeq Ahmed are also on the board.

"While exports have shown a growth of 21 per cent in 2011-12, the momentum is difficult to maintain in 2012-13 as the situation in Europe is still not good," an industry official said.

From a peak of 82 per cent in July, export growth slipped to 44.25 per cent in August, 36.36 per cent in September, 10.8 per cent in October and 3.8 per cent in November, 2011.

However, exports grew 6.7 per cent in December, over 10 per cent in January and 4.3 per cent in February.

While exports during the last fiscal aggregated USD 303.7 billion, imports increased to USD 488.6 billion, leaving a highest-ever trade deficit of USD 185 billion.

The government has fixed a target of doubling the country's exports to USD 500 billion by 2013-14. The Commerce Ministry has come out with a strategy paper for achieving the objective.

Diversification of the export market is seen as one of the important strategies for accelerating India's external trade.

The government has been providing sops for exporters exploring new markets in Asia, Africa and Latin America.