Chennai: Contending that the decline in India’s exports has been arrested to a large extent, Union Commerce and Industries Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday exuded confidence that the growth in the months would be slow but steady.
Addressing the concluding session of the Regional Editors Conference organised by the Press Information Bureau, Ms Sitharaman also said the Union Government would extend the Vishakapatnam-Chennai Industrial Corridor further to Tuticorin and possibly to connect the upcoming port in Colachel.
Outlining the efforts taken by the Narendra Modi government in the past
two years to bring growth rate back on track, she said a few sectors have managed to withstand the decline in exports and registered a “positive growth” despite the global trend otherwise.
“Exports between 2015-16 was $262.30 billion, but it registered a 15.5 per cent decline (compared to previous year). There is a continuous fall in exports of goods in various sectors and their performance. The decline in the country’s exports have been arrested to a large extent and the growth is expected to be slow but steady,” she said.
Noting that the interest subvention scheme announced by the Union government and the performance-based incentives have boosted the confidence among exporters, she said that was the reason why the scheme was extended beyond March 31, 2016 to bring confidence to investors.
Giving a detailed picture on country’s exports performance, she said, “Exports between 2015-16 was $262.30 billion, but it registered a 15.5 per cent decline (compared to previous year). There is a continuous fall in exports of goods in various sectors and their performance.”
Responding to questions, the Minister said the Union Government would come out with a National Rubber Policy on the lines of those announced for sectors like petroleum, textile and IT.
“A panel of experts had been constituted in this regard in June 2014. The report had been given but an announcement on what the government had decided, though nearly ready, kept getting postponed, she indicated,” she said.
