I am a firm believer in reforms

This is feel-good on the run. The â€˜Mini-Exim Policyâ€™ does facilitate exports (and imports) in various ways but there is no ignoring the twinkle in commerce & industry minister Arun Jaitleyâ€™s eye when he denies any political intent in measures such as freeing up the import of gold and silver. Mr Jaitley does not deny, however, that it is a potent symbol of new-found resilience that the nation has moved from mortgaging its gold for want of forex to feeling free to buy up all the gold its citizens want. In an interview with T K Arun & G Ganapathy Subramaniam, he also expressed the desire to do more for exports in terms of cheaper finance. Excerpts: What is the political significance of this â€˜Mini-Exim Policyâ€™ which can be seen as another pre-election attempt to enhance the â€˜feel-goodâ€™ factor? In the current scenario, it is not possible to have the Exim Policy on the usual date of March 31 â€” we would be under the election commissionâ€™s code of conduct. If we had failed to act now, exporters would have had to wait for four months. Thatâ€™s the real reason behind todayâ€™s announcements. This has been a tough year for exporters and there is a need to keep the momentum acquired in November and December going. The need to promote exports rather has prompted todayâ€™s measures rather than feel good considerations. Removal of restrictions on import of gold and silver are seen as populist measures? These restrictions should have been scrapped years ago. I am a firm believer in liberalisation. Phasing out quantitative restrictions (QRs) on imports has not harmed India in any way. The economy has exhibited its resilience and all apprehensions have been proved wrong. Canalisation of gold and silver was only benefiting the canalising agencies who were charging a fee on imports. In many cases, the interest of public sector is justified as public interest. We should look at benefits for the people and removal of the restriction is for the benefit of the consumer. India is becoming a hub of the worldâ€™s jewellery business, why should our producers be forced to add t their costs by paying rent to canalising agencies? What is it that you could not do now but would have done in a full-fledged Exim Policy announcement? We could have done more on the export credit front and extension of some benefits to export oriented units on the same lines as special economic zones. The growth in SEZs has been amazing, ranging up to 40% during the recent quarters, and it will be desirable to replicate this success with EOUs too. Export growth from EOUs has been something like 20%. On the export credit front, we could have done much more if we had more time. How will you ensure that the import concessions granted to restaurants are passed on to consumers? We will call for the tariff cards. We will verify if they are actually passing on the benefits to the customers. Anybody found to be violating this norm will be denied import licence. If anybody provides false information and manages a licence, we will take penal action apart from scrapping licences. And we hope we will have a vocal set of consumers who know their rights. What is behind the surge in exports during December? We see a combination of factors including the recovery of the US economy, the spin-off effect of this recovery and the performance of the Indian economy. A whole range of sectors have recorded steep growth in exports. Engineering, chemicals, electronics, man-made fibre, mica and iron ore have shown strong performance. Textiles has also recovered and certain categories like marine goods have shown increase in volume. The current outlook is very positive for the last quarter which traditionally shows strong export performance. What about the demand of exporters for restoration of income tax benefits? As the commerce minister, I would like concessions to be extended to exporters. Since appreciation of the rupee is creating difficulties, sops would be welcome. However, the government has to balance various considerations before taking a view on such issues.

I am a firm believer in reforms

This is feel-good on the run. The ‘Mini-Exim Policy’ does facilitate exports (and imports) in various ways but there is no ignoring the twinkle in commerce & industry minister Arun Jaitley’s eye when he denies any political intent in measures such...

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