Govt looking to help exporters on insurance front amid West Asia crisis

New Delhi: Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Tuesday said the government is looking to extend help to exporters on the insurance front to help them deal with the ongoing West Asia crisis.

He said an inter-ministerial group is keeping tabs on developments on a daily basis and is interacting with exporters. The Customs department has come out with norms for dealing with export cargo returning to Indian ports due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and disruptions in maritime routes amid the West Asia crisis.

“Similarly, we are looking for developing some new schemes like insurance support... We are consulting ECGC (Export Credit Guarantee Corporation) and other departments on that,” Goyal told reporters here.

He said the government is looking at ways to help exporters whose goods have been shipped but are facing problems. The government is monitoring the situation 24 hours, he added.

Exporters are facing issues due to a joint attack launched by the US and Israel on Iran. It has led to a spike in ocean freight, air transport, and insurance premiums because of disruptions in the movement of oil and gas consignments. West Asia is a major export destination for India.

Meanwhile, speaking at Aahar show, he said India should aspire to become a top exporter of agri and processed food sectors. At present, India is the seventh-largest exporter of the world.

Agriculture and fish exports stood around Rs 5 lakh crore.

Goyal also said the nine free trade agreements (FTAs) finalised by India have opened huge export opportunities for Indian goods. “We are now finalising an agreement with Canada. We have just launched discussions with the six nations, GCC group of countries, in the Middle East. All of this provides huge opportunities for friends from the processed food and agri sector,” the minister said.