With strong govt support, exports turning around as global conditions improve, says Sanjay Budhiya

New Delhi: With strong measures taken by the Commerce and Industry Ministry to restrict the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on exports, India's exports are seeing a pick-up in January 2021 over the previous year and this is likely to continue, said Sanjay Budhia, Chairman, CII National Committee on EXIM.

Monthly merchandise exports in January 2021 are estimated to be 5.37 per cent higher than in January 2020 as per preliminary data released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, with engineering exports alone picking up by 18.7 per cent.

Uncertainties in the global markets are trending down as countries move out of lockdowns and vaccine rollout gains pace, pointed out Budhia.

Global recovery programs have led to increased demand for goods and the rise in global commodity prices is indicative of return of growth forces. The significant promotional efforts for exports by the Indian Government synch well with this recovery process and position the country's exports prominently in global markets, according to Budhia.

The Indian exports that have done well in January 2021 include agri products, electronic goods, engineering goods, pharma, ores and minerals, observed Budhia. These indicate the success of positive measures in facilitating trade and logistics in India.

Budhia appreciated the focus of Ministry of Commerce and Industry on exports even during the pandemic when it proactively interacted with industry to address immediate hurdles arising from lockdown and safety measures across the world.

Noting that the Commerce and Industries Minister Piyush Goyal regularly met with industry to understand ground-level issues, Budhia said that issues such as delays at ports, movement restrictions on domestic freight, and other trade matters continued to be relentlessly taken up during the

pandemic.

Budhia said that these steps ensured smoother movement of outward-bound cargo and helped faster return to normal activities.

Budhia further said that measures announced in Budget 2021-22 for port infrastructure, industrial parks, and ease of doing business would further boost engineering and other exports as global conditions stabilize.

Budhia observed that the new export promotion scheme of RoDTEP can be a gamechanger for exports as it promises to compensate for cost disadvantages faced by exporters and manufacturers.

The rates to be announced shortly would help bring in certainty on policy so that exporters can plan their strategies for global markets.

Fast-tracking the industrial parks with plug and play infrastructure would further help to build export capacity at the earliest.