The Commerce and Industry Ministry will hold a two-day Chintan Shivir to discuss ways to promote manufacturing trade, investments, startups, logistics and import substitution, among others, an official said on Thursday.

 

On May 19, the Department of Commerce will be holding a series of sessions on issues such as team building; expediting trade and investment promotion efforts; export strategy on goods and services; import substitution, reducing sub-standard imports and promoting manufacturing through PLI (production linked incentive).

 

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, Ministers of State for Commerce and Industry Som Parkash and Anupriya Patel will address the ministry officials.

 

On May 20, the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) will hold sessions on subjects like innovate in India (startups and intellectual property rights) and the future-ready logistics sector, the official said.

 

India's exports contracted by 12.7 per cent, the third month in a row, to USD 34.66 billion in April even as the trade deficit reduced to a 20-month low of USD 15.24 billion.

 

According to the ministry's data, exports of goods and services in 2022-23 rose by 14.68 per cent to an all-time high of USD 775.87 billion.

 

Merchandise exports increased by 6.74 per cent to USD 450.43 billion, while imports rose by 16.47 per cent to USD 714 billion in the last fiscal.

 

Services exports rose 27.86 per cent to USD 325.44 billion in 2022-23, while imports increased by 22.54 per cent to USD 180 billion in the preceding fiscal.

 

Foreign direct investment (FDI) into India declined by 15 per cent to USD 36.75 billion during April-December 2022-23.

 

The total FDI inflows, which include equity inflows, re-invested earnings and other capital, declined to USD 55.27 billion during April-December 2022-23 against USD 60.4 billion in April-December 2021-22.

Secretary, Food Processing Industries (FPI) Smt. Anita Praveen, chaired the First Inter- Ministerial Committee Meeting with senior representatives from Ministries/Departments/Boards on Tuesday 16th May 2023 in New Delhi. The agenda of the committee meeting was to apprise the officials of preparation made so far for World Food India 2023 and discuss participation of respective Ministries/Departments/Organizations in the event. This was in continuation to series of interactions held to apprise the Ministry’s plan of action for the upcoming World Food India 2023 and discuss potential areas of collaboration. The roundtable witnessed participation from the senior officials of key central government ministries and departments.

 

During her address, Secretary, FPI requested the officials to share specific plan of action regarding their participation/partnership in the Mega Food Event that is being organized between 3rd and 5th November 2023 in New Delhi.

 

All central ministries and departments were requested to share suggestions on the planned sessions of World Food India and participate in the event actively as well as support the Ministry in awareness creation on the relevant Department’s social media handles, embark participation of senior policy makers, industry members, SHGs and all relevant stakeholders to make the event a grand success.

 

Further, the participating officials assured support to Ministry of Food Processing Industries

 

(MoFPI) through technical/sectoral sessions, investment-oriented sessions with Ambassadors and High Commissioners, buyer seller meets/RBSMs, engagements with startups/IPRs/ONDC, promotion of Ayush Aahar products and GI products. Some of the suggestions / feedback given by the officials included ensuring participation from exporters associated with the respective boards.

 

Secretary FPI concluded her remarks by urging all stakeholders to join hands in making the event a success by leveraging their respective strengths and extending additional support. The next meeting of the Inter-Ministerial Committee is expected to be held in June 2023 to firm up concrete partnership/participation of different stakeholders.

 

Further, the Investment Facilitation Cell (Invest India) and the event partner (FICCI) were directed to coordinate with the respective ministries and departments for facilitating the discussed action plan and seek necessary support from government bodies.

A surge in the export of soyameal helped India to record 48.47 per cent growth in the overall export of oilmeals during April.

 

Data available with Solvent Extractors’ Association (SEA) of India showed that the country exported 4.93 lakh tonnes (lt) of oilmeals in April 2023 against 3.32 lt in the corresponding period of 2022.

 

Stating that the soyabean price has come down to about Rs.4,550 per quintal from the highest level of Rs.7,640 per quintal in April 2022, BV Mehta, Executive Director of SEA of India, said this decline has made export of soyabean meal attractive in the last seven months.

 

India exported 1.77 lt of soyabean meal in April 2023 against 24,937 tonnes in April 2022. On May 12, Argentina soyabean meal price (ex-Rotterdam) was quoted at $516 a tonne, while Indian soyabean meal price (ex-Kandla) was quoted at $570 a tonne.

 

Mentioning that South-East Asia is the major consumer for Indian soyabean meal, he said India has a logistic advantage to this destination and can supply in small lots also. Besides, the rupee depreciation is pushing the overall export.

 

Record rapemeal exports

Highlighting the upward trend in the export of rapeseed meal, Mehta said India exported 2.46 lt of rapeseed meal in April 2023-24 against 2.29 lt in the corresponding period of 2022-23.

 

India exported 22.96 lt of rapeseed meal in 2022-23, he said, adding it is a record export of rapeseed meal from India till now.

 

India is the most competitive supplier of rapeseed meal to South Korea, Vietnam, Thailand and other Far East Countries at $240 a tonne (FOB India). Rapeseed meal (ex-mill Hamburg) has been quoted at $299 a tonne.

 

He said mustard is being sold at Rs.5,100 a quintal, which is below the MSP of Rs.5,450 a quintal, due to the deteriorated price of edible oil both in international and domestic markets. The decline in the price of mustard is discouraging farmers to sell mustard for crushing. Now SEA has revised mustard crop estimate to 111.80 lt from the earlier estimate of 115.25 lt (made during March) due to unseasonal rain in March.

 

India exported 29,477 tonnes of castorseed meal in April 2023 against 25,758 tonnes in April 2022, recording a growth of 14.43 per cent.

 

However, there was 28.54 per cent decline in the export of ricebran extraction during April. India exported 37,479 tonnes of ricebran extraction in April 2023 against 52,450 tonnes in April 2022.

 

South Korea top destination

Indian oilmeals were exported to countries such as South Korea, Thailand, Vietnam and Bangladesh during April.

 

South Korea imported 86,230 tonnes of oilmeals from India in April 2023 (compared to 1.42 lt in April 2022). This included 78,787 tonnes of rapeseed meal, 4,445 tonnes of castorseed meal, and 2,998 tonnes of soyabean meal.

 

India exported 1 lt of oilmeals (62,979 tonnes) to Vietnam during April. This included 18,107 tonnes of ricebran extraction, 36,229 tonnes of rapeseed meal, 46,391 tonnes of soyabean meal, and 133 tonnes of groundnut meal.

 

Thailand imported 68,519 tonnes (41,992 tonnes) of oilmeals from India during April. This included 60,493 tonnes of rapeseed meal, 4,526 tonnes of soyabean meal, 2,907 tonnes of ricebran extraction, and 593 tonnes of castorseed meal.

 

India exported 1.07 lt (33,422 tonnes) of oilmeals to Bangladesh during April. This included 9,449 tonnes of ricebran extraction, 27,363 tonnes of rapeseed meal, and 70,596 tonnes of soyabean meal.

The closing ceremony of the four-day long Uttarakhand Shree Anna (Millets) Festival took place today in Dehradun under the chief hospitality of the Union Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Minister, Shri Narendra Singh Tomar. Shri Tomar said that Shree Anna has only benefits, especially our small farmers are greatly benefited by it. With the increase in their income from Shree Anna, the country's economy will get a boost.

 

Union Minister Shri Tomar said that consumption of Shree Anna is the means to stay healthy. Shree Anna is full of nutrition, which costs less to the farmers to grow, it does not require fertilizer, it can be cultivated easily even in low rainfall. In order to increase the income of small farmers, to keep people healthy and to give a respectable place to food grains in the country and the world, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi proposed it on the global stage through the United Nations, which was supported by 72 countries and the UN declared 2023 as the International Year of Millets. The importance of Shri Anna is being spread through this year's event under the guidance of Prime Minister Shri Modi. Agri-startups will increase with Shree Anna, employment opportunities will increase, production and productivity will increase, as well as processing and exports will also increase, which will boost the country's economy. Thus, Shree Anna has many dimensions.

 

Shri Tomar said that Prime Minister Shri. Modi has a vision to bring a radical change in the standard of living of the poor including making toilets in their homes, providing electricity, building Pradhanmantri Awas, progress of poor women through self-help groups. The country's economy should increase, development should increase, industries should increase, Make in India, Startup India, Skill India and our country should not only be powerful, but should become such a superpower that people are forced to accept India's iron in the whole world. This type of multidimensional thinking belongs to the Prime Minister. Shri Tomar said that as a result of Prime Minister's efficiency, vision and hard work, India's reputation is increasing in the whole world. Regardless of whether someone agrees with us or not, when it is discussed on any global platform, when it comes to the economy, then the economists of the world are forced to say that in the coming tomorrow, the world is going to move forward rapidly. If there is any economy, then it is India. It is a matter of great fortune and pride for us.

 

Shri Tomar said that the Prime Minister has left no stone unturned to make the specialty of India to the specialty of the world. Yoga is the ancient method of India, which was gradually becoming extinct, which Swami Ramdev campaigned to make it a place in every house, while Prime Minister Shri Modi propounded the characteristics of Yoga in the United Nations and urged the whole world to celebrate Yoga Day, through which the Indian Yoga style has resonated all over the world today. Yoga is necessary to stay healthy. Mr. Tomar said that ever since the formation of the government at the Center under the leadership of Mr. Modi, he has consistently given priority to the agriculture sector. In the year 2014, the budget of agriculture was about 21 thousand crore rupees, which has increased about 1.25 lakh crore rupees today. That is, there has been an increase of more than five times. For income support to small farmers, the Center has deposited Rs 2.40 lakh crore in the bank accounts of crores of farmers through the PM-Kisan scheme. Similarly, the Ministry of Agriculture has taken steps and increased the allocation of funds in every direction, including the protection cover for the farmers insured by the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, increase in food grain productivity, emphasis on organic and natural farming. Shri Tomar said that the Devbhoomi of Uttarakhand covered with diverse climate is very favorable for agriculture. For the last five years, the Government of Uttarakhand is playing a leading role in the proper implementation of the schemes of the Ministry of Agriculture in Uttarakhand and in making their benefits available to the farmers. May Uttarakhand move forward in every field of agriculture, wherever the central government is needed, the Government of India including the Prime Minister will always stand shoulder to shoulder with the Devbhoomi.

 

Agriculture Minister of Uttarakhand Shri Ganesh Joshi, Finance Minister Shri Prem Aggarwal and other public representatives, Acharya Shri Balakrishna, senior officials of the state, farmers and representatives of startups were present in the function.

Union Minister for Commerce & Industry, Textiles, Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, Sh. Piyush Goyal said that the India-EU FTA negotiation is progressing well while addressing the media yesterday after the 1st India-EU Trade & Technology Council (TTC) meeting in Brussels, Belgium. Sh. Goyal said that the TTC is helpful as it is supplementing the FTA negotiations and the FTA will make India-EU relationship the defining partnership of the century.

 

Sh. Piyush Goyal said that India is engaging with the EU on Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) as it is not the EU’s intention to create a barrier to trade but to find a way forward towards sustainability as part of collective efforts. He stressed that India and the EU are working together to find the right solution to the CBAM issue.

 

Sh. Goyal said that India’s tariffs are very often misconstrued to be very high on most items, raw materials, intermediates but in reality the duties are very low. The Minister said that the duties on technological items which are helping the Indian economy grow are very low. He said that the actual applied rates of tariffs are lower than the agreed bound rates at WTO.

 

Sh. Goyal mentioned that the political guidance received from the Prime Minister of India, Sh. Narendra Modi and the President of the European Commission, H.E. Ms. Ursula von der Leyen has been truly encouraging in setting the path for outstanding engagement. The Minister praised the creation of TTC as a platform of coordination to address key issues related to trade, trusted technology and security between India and EU. He said that both India and the EU are open market economies, vibrant democracies and pluralistic societies driven by the common interest of security, prosperity and sustainable development.

India’s agricultural exports have defied the odds, overcoming the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic and the global economic slowdown. This success can be largely attributed to the Agricultural Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA).  How did the organisation boost sales?  

 

In this episode, M Angamuthu, Chairman, APEDA, talks about India’s agricultural export performance with businessline’s Subramani Ra Mancombu.

 

About the State Of The Economy podcast

 

India’s economy has been hailed as the bright spot amid the general gloom that seems to have enveloped the rest of the world. But several of its sectors still stutter about even while others seem set to fire on all cylinders. To help you make sense of the bundle of contradictions that the country is, businessline brings you podcasts with experts ranging from finance and marketing to technology and start-ups.

Creating more awareness about the nutritional qualities of millets among people will drive the demand which in turn make their farming profitable, Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Tomar said on Tuesday (May 16). Mr Tomar also spoke of the role played by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in convincing the world about the nutritional value of millets and having 2023 declared by the UN as the International Millet Year.

 

Mr Tomar addressed the concluding day of the four-day Shree Anna Mahotsav here. The festival was organised to celebrate 2023 as the International Millet Year.

 

Through events like this people will learn about the health benefits of millets and their demand will increase. When its demand increases. farmers will grow millets and make profits, he said. Patanjali’s MD Acharya Balkrishna said Uttarakhand has always been a hub of millet production. The event will prove to be a milestone in the promotion of millet production.

With an aim to promote organic farming, the officials of agriculture department have been providing ‘organic inputs’ to the farmers under phase II of the organic corridor in Bhagalpur region for the past two years.

 

Agrofarming of paddy, exclusive variety of katarni rice, vegetables, horticulture products like mango and banana have been included in the organic corridor.

 

Officials said the objective is to create farmers’ linkages with government schemes aimed at increasing organic and biodynamic farming for sustainable agriculture with a departmental support system and also by creating awareness towards the growing need for organic farming.

 

The district agriculture office has earmarked 1500 acres of land for the organic corridor (phase-II) in the region, whereas 1,168 farmers interested in organic farming have been shortlisted and segregated in 15 groups in the seven blocks of Jagdishpur, Nathnagar, Sultanganj, Sahkund, Kahalgaon, Pirpainty and Kharik.

 

Anil Kumar Yadav, district agriculture officer of Bhagalpur, said: 'We are working on the project to provide/distribute organic inputs to the targeted farmers.

 

‘Organic inputs’ include compost and are derived from the processing of plant and animal products, neem cake, decomposed cow dung and urine, biofertilizers, vermi and green compost etc besides the equipment for producing organic fertilizers.'

 

He added: 'Use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides etc results in soil degradation and cause health hazards for the farmers. 

Organic farming is extremely important for sustainable agriculture. The farmers are provided with government grants for purchasing the organic inputs.'

 

Yadav claimed that action will be taken against the slack coordinators who have been assigned the task of making available the organic inputs to the farmers.

 

The organic farmers that have been included in the different farming groups are Jagdishpur Jaivik Katarni Dhan Utpadak Sangh, Kajraili Jaivik Corridor, Ratanpur Jaivik Katarni Dhan Krishak, Kishanpur Jaivik Sabji Utpadak Samuh, Kheraihya Jaivik Krishak Hit Samuh, Ashiyachak Jaivik Krishak, Jagariya Jaivik Krishak, Kurma Jaivik Sabji Utpadak, Kairiya Jaivik Corridor, Hardevchak Jaivik Udyanik Fasal Krishak, Pyalapur Jaivik Corridor, Olapur Jaivik Krishak, Naya Tola Khairpur Sabji Utpadak, Usmanpur Jaivik Sabji Utpadak and Tulsipur Jaivik Kela Utpadak Samuh.

Commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal on Tuesday said that the intention of the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) is not to create a barrier to trade and the two sides are engaged to 'find the right solutions' for it.

 

Addressing the media after the first India-EU Trade and Technology Council meeting in Brussels, he also said that India has to keep tariffs high on many products at times to compete with certain geographies which are 'very non-transparent' and the developed countries are the 'unintended consequence of the high tariffs'.

 

'The CBAM is a mechanism that the European Union has proposed and we remain engaged with the European Union. I'm sure that the intention is not to create a barrier to trade but to find a way forward,' Goyal said.

 

The mechanism, which is due to kick in from October, will impact India’s steel and aluminium exports.

 

'We have a long time ahead of us within which we'll be working together to find the right solutions to this,' he said.

 

On the issue of tariffs, Goyal said that

India's tariffs very often are misconstrued to be high on most items of raw materials or intermediates.

 

Emphasising on India’s ability to compete with certain geographies which are 'very non transparent', Goyal said: 'We need to keep our tariffs high on many products at times. Developed Countries are the unintended consequence of the high tariffs, and which is why we are engaged in free trade agreement negotiations with the European Union'.

 

The tariffs, he said, are generally very low on duty on many items of technology, many items which are helping the Indian economy grow and India has kept the duties very low, the actual applied rates are much lower than what was agreed to at the WTO as bound rates.

 

He said the FTA will also open the doors of the European Union marketplace for Indian goods of high quality at very competitive prices, which will be good for consumers in European Union.

 

As part of the first Ministerial meeting of India-European Union Trade and Technology Council (TTC), a Stakeholders Event for Working Groups 1 & 2 was co-chaired by Sh. Piyush Goyal, Union Minister for Commerce & Industry, Textiles, Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution is one of the co-chairs along with Dr. S Jaishankar, External Affairs Minister (EAM) and Sh. Rajeev Chandrashekar, Union Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY) on the Indian side and  Ms. Margrethe Vestager, Executive Vice President of European Commission, and Mr. Theirry Breton, European Commissioner, on the EU side.

 

The event was attended by 18 stakeholders, from various business sectors both India and EU presented their views and suggestions. From the Indian side, there were five stakeholders who represented the digital and technology sector (Working Group 1) while three represented clean and green energy technologies (Working Group 2).

 

The discussions included issues on digital technologies, innovations and disruptions; interoperability for cross border merchant payments; re-globalisation; enabling harmonised standards, regulations and policies to enhance digital trade and investment between India and the EU; digital transformation to scale, need to reskill and improve talent; certifications enabling new innovations and technologies; engagements on production of green hydrogen; battery systems and recycling; scaling up charging systems for better access; waste and water management, etc.

 

Sh. Piyush Goyal, in his address and subsequent interventions, underscored the importance of new digital technologies and their transformations helping to reskill and upskill existing talents. The Minister informed that mutual recognition of degrees/courses would enable joint skill development on both sides. He also suggested that in order to have deeper understanding based on mutual sensitivities, working groups need to engage periodically and identify separate tracks for skilling and talent, semiconductor ecosystem etc. to move towards clear and identifiable deliverables.