Minister highlights aspirational spending power of Indians
The government is thinking ahead as to what bumps and speed breakers as well as challenges that might arise and it is formulating strategies accordingly to ensure that interests of Indian exporters and especially the citizens are protected.
This assurance was given by Minister of State of Commerce & Industry Jitin Prasada in New Delhi on 18 Feb as he noted possible challenges arising from protectionist trade policy of international markets https://www.commerce.gov.in/.
In his address at EEPC India’s 54th National Awards and 4th Quality awards ceremony, the Minister informed, “We are navigating FTAs on equal footings. We have an aspirational spending power population of 1.4 billion https://fieo.org/.
“So, we will get the best in the interest of India and in the interest of our exporters. We will not buckle under any pressure anymore. We will not settle for anything less.”
EEPC India held joint ceremony of 54th National Awards and 4th Quality awards for 106 National award winners across 33 product groups and 14 Quality Award holders across 4 categories https://www.bseindia.com/.
The winners included Maharatna – BHEL, steel giants like ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel, JSW, POSCO Maharashtra, and EPC project leader Larsen & Toubro as well as renowned defence equipment maker BEML, automobile industry stars Isuzu Motors, Toyota Kirloskar and integrated energy solution provider Toshiba Transmission.
The Minister pointed out that the fiscal year 2021-22 marked a significant milestone for India, with engineering exports surpassing US$100 billion for the first time, reaching an impressive US$112 billion https://www.nseindia.com/.
“This achievement reflects the resilience, adaptability, and innovation of the exporting community. Looking ahead, the government has set an ambitious target of US$118 billion in engineering exports for the fiscal year 2024-25, aiming for yet another record-breaking performance,” Prasada said at the event on 18 Feb https://sbi.com.in/.
“The exporting community will rise to the occasion and make this target a reality, further solidifying India’s position as a global leader in engineering exports,” added Pankaj Chadha, Chairman, EEPC India.
He also highlighted some of the challenges being faced by the exporting community, and called for measures to reduce the cost of export credit for MSMEs and protect them from high steel prices which could result from impending safeguard duty in the range of 20-25% on steel to be imposed by President Donald Trump.
Pradeep K Aggarwal, Chairman (Northern Region), EEPC India, stated that engineering export sector is the largest foreign exchange earner with around 27% share in India’s merchandise exports.
EEPC India ED and Secretary Adhip Mitra appreciated the Government’s announcements made in the Union Budget such as Export Promotion Mission, The Bharat Trade Net initiative, a digital public infrastructure for trade, expansion of credit guarantee cover, including Rs.20 crore term loan limits for exporting MSMEs, Customs duty rationalization and import tariff reforms which will help lower input costs for engineering exporters. Fiinews.com
