It's now up to exporters to deliver: Maran

NEW DELHI: Rural purchasing power would spurt on account of the initiatives announced in the new Exim Policy to boost farm exports, commerce & industry minister Murasoli Maran said on Monday. “The policy aims to gives farm exports a prominent place by giving farmers remunerative prices and this will generate effective demand from the rural India,� he said at a seminar organised here by Ficci. It has been estimated that every one per cent switch in term of trade in favour of agriculture will result in diversion of about Rs 8,500 crore additionally in favour of the agri sector. Maran said the policy had simplified a number of procedures and unveiled a number of incentives for farm exports, industrial clusters and cottage industries. “In a bid to give equal opportunity and promotion cutting across all sectors, for the first time our exim policy encompasses agricultural products, village artisans, cottage industries, small scale industries to the electronic items of software,� said Mr Maran. He added that the new exim policy has freed trade from the shackles of control. “It is now up to the exporters to rise to the occasion and prove their worth. The ball is now in their court,� he said. The minister said commerce and finance ministries were in consultations for merging export incentive schemes such as duty drawback and the duty entitlement passbook scheme (DEPB), but the same could be possible only after the states introduced value added tax. Responding to demands by the Positra and the Gopalpur SEZ for increasing the tax holiday in view of the long gestation period of such zones, Mr Maran said he would refer the issue to the finance minister for making a suitable announcement in the Finance Bill.