Commerce Minister Mr. Anand Sharma on August 27, 2009
released The Foreign Trade Policy for the period 2009-14.
Five year trade policy remains silent on export target for
the year 2009-10 but policy aims at achieving an annual
export growth of 15 per cent annually with an annual
target of $ 200 billion by March 2011. Policy reveals the
data that exports were worth $ 168•7 billion in 2008-09
because India’s exports have been falling in annual terms
since October 2008 when global recession gave rise to
credit squeeze in developed nations, resulting falling
export’s size from Indian market. India’s exports remained
down by 31•3 per cent in quarter ended in June 2009 from a
year earlier. With revival indications in global front,
policy hopes that the Indian economy would return on high
export growth path of around 25 per cent by 2014.
In its new trade policy, the government relaxed and
extended two flagship schemes for exporters, the Export
Promotion Capital Goods Scheme (EPCGS) and the Duty
Entitlement Passbook Scheme (DEPS) and extended other
stimulus measures in a bid to reserve the decline in
exports and double outbound sales of goods and services in
next five years.
Commerce Ministry has also taken a conscious view to
expand and diversify India’s export markets, especially in
the emerging markets of Africa, Latin America, Oceania and
CIS countries. The new policy has shifted focus to 26 new
countries to counter the demand slump in traditional
markets.
The new foreign trade policy clearly gives the message to
double India’s exports of goods and services by 2014 and
double its share in global trade by 2020.
The salient highlights of new foreign trade policy 2009-14
are as follows :
● Duty entitlement passbook scheme extended till December
2010.
● Extension of sops for exportoriented units till March
2011.
● Export target of $ 200 billion set for 2010-11.
● Growth target of 15 per cent for next two years, 25 per
cent thereafter.
● Inter-ministerial group to address issues raised by
exporters.
● Obligation under export promotion capital goods scheme
relaxed.
● Permission for tax refund scheme for jewellery sector.
● No fee on grant of incentives to cut transaction costs.
● Steps to help exporters reduce transaction costs.
● Plan for diamond bourses in the country.
● Single-window scheme for farm exports.
● Re-export of unused leather allowed subject to 50 per
cent duty.
● Minimum value addition for tea reduced to 50 per cent
from 100 per cent.
● Export units allowed to sell 90 per cent of goods in
domestic market.
● Provision for state-run banks to provide dollar credits.
● Twenty-six new markets added to focus market scheme.
● Sops under focus market scheme hiked from 2•5 per cent
to 3 per cent.
● Number of duty-free samples for exporters raised to 50
pieces from 15.
● New directorate of trade remedy measures to be set up.
● Zero duty under technology upgrade scheme.
