India may allow Bangladesh to export more duty-free garments

NEW DELHI: Ahead of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's two-day visit to Bangladesh, the government today hinted at allowing its neighbour to export more duty-free garments to the Indian market.

"In April, we had raised the (duty-free) quota from 8 million pieces to 10 million... There is some more demand and the government will take a fair view on that," Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma said.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will visit Bangladesh on September 6-7 with the objective of galvanising bilateral ties between the two nations.

When asked whether Bangladesh has demanded more duty-free garment exports to India, he said: "It is true that many of the tariff lines in the textiles sector are being discussed."

In April, India had increased the quota for duty-free import of garments from Bangladesh by two million pieces to 10 million.

Bangladesh is pitching for the duty-free export of 61 items to India, as against the 54 textile items that are currently allowed.

Bilateral trade between the two countries stood at USD 2.6 billion in the 2009-10 financial year.