Indian subsidies not WTO compliant
India may review some of the Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) and the Indian industry needs to be able to leverage them, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has disclosed.
He also acknowledged that FTAs have been a lost opportunity for India as the country has not been able to scale up and create quality products,
Goyal said that an alternative being considered is encouraging foreign currency loans for the Indian industries.
Also, the Government is evaluating strengthening Export Credit Guarantee Corporation (ECGC) credit which would add confidence to banks for lending to exporters.
“This would help reduce the risk premium on lending and lower interest rate costs,” Goyal said at an interacting at a session organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in New Delhi on 21 June 2019.
Touching on the issue of subsidies, the Minister said that continuous subsidies are not the solution to trade and business.
“A larger problem is that our subsidies are not WTO compliant. We must find an industry agnostic way to address issues such that it is WTO compliant. Reciprocity and serving Indian interests even as we move towards a level playing field is paramount.”
“Global conditions are leading overseas business to look for alternate destinations and India should be that alternate destination,” he stressed.
“The wealth creators, that is industry, should create more opportunities for the people of India. We must work in the spirit of togetherness to become a US$5 trillion economy in the next 5 years,” he said.
The Minister assured: “New India is an honest India which engages with the world on equal terms”.
“The DPIIT has been asked to work out 50 sectors where I will personally sit with industry to work out areas of concern so that we can create quality products to scale, such that we can do both import substitution as well as export promotion,” he said.
Stating that first term of the government was focused on meeting the basic needs of the people such as electricity and toilets, he said that the second term is a chance to work on the aspirations of the future.
CII Director General Chandrajit Banerjee added: “There have been phenomenal achievements and reform in the last 5 years.”
“A need is felt for a clearer trade policy regime so that industry can interact and integrate better with the international market. We now need to rekindle the animal spirit and create a new India for tomorrow with jobs for all,” he said. fiinews.com
