US, UK, Canada quiz India's SPECS scheme, sops at WTO

The US, the UK and Canada Tuesday raised questions at the Make in India initiative and sought details on India's Scheme for Promotion of Manufacturing of Electronic Components and Semiconductors (SPECS) including the subsidy amount and the product categories at the World Trade Organization (WTO).

They also asked about India's fisheries, farm and food subsidies, officials said. "Some members have asked details such as the eligibility criteria of the SPECS programme. We have replied to some queries," said an official.

The questions were asked after New Delhi notified its subsidy programmes to the WTO late last year. India has informed that the electronic goods are identified by HSN codes and the eligibility requirements vary from programme to programme.


The US has queries about India's Freight Subsidy Scheme and Amended Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme. It also asked why the production- linked incentive scheme and the design-linked incentive scheme were not part of India's notification.

Both Canada and the US raised questions at the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojana, an initiative to modernise food processing infrastructure, India's shipbuilding financial assistance policy and the Pradhan Mantri Formalisation of Micro Food Processing Enterprises (PMFME) Scheme.

The UK asked if India's subsidy programmes are benefiting from the Make In India initiative and if these incentives constitute notifiable subsidies under the WTO's Subsidies and Countervailing Measures Agreement.

On UK's observation that fish-related subsidies were not included in the notification, India said it will provide information in due course.

They also enquired about Karnataka's industrial policy, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh's incentives to their respective industries, among other states' policies.