Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday met U.K. Secretary of State for International Trade Anne-Marie Trevelyan in New Delhi for the formal launch of negotiations for a free trade agreement.

 

Both sides will hold deliberations over an array of trade opportunities of mutual interest, benefiting India and the U.K.

 

“Met with U.K. Secretary of State for International Trade @AnnieTrev for the launch of India-UK Free Trade Agreement Negotiations,” Mr. Goyal said in a tweet.

 

This agreement is aimed at liberalising norms and reducing customs duties to boost trade in goods and services, besides promoting investments.

 

India’s exports to the U.K. stood at $8.15 billion in 2020-21, while imports aggregated at $4.95 billion.

 

India’s main exports to the U.K. include ready-made garments and textiles, gems and jewellery, engineering goods, petroleum products, transport equipment, spices, pharmaceuticals and marine products.

 

Imports from Britain include precious and semi-precious stones, ores and metal scraps, engineering goods, chemicals and machinery.

 

In the services sector, the U.K. is the largest market in Europe for Indian IT services.

The Minister of Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution today asked Industry Bodies to prepay MSMEs to safeguard their viability and to boost employment and growth. He was interacting with the leaders of major Industry bodies virtually from New Delhi today.

 

Shri Piyush Goyal was speaking at a meeting with heads of top Business and Industry Associations of country today to seek their suggestions and inputs to ensure continuation of fast rebound of economic activities and high growth rates being achieved.

 

He congratulated Indian Industry for bouncing back after taking a hit due to the pandemic and for the resilience displayed while grappling with the pandemic, especially in the field of exports.

 

The Minister said that the growth in services exports, inspite of travel and tourism restrictions was truly commendable and said that we must aim to reach $ 250 billion services exports. He added that Indian professionals had demonstrated great success in working from home and therefore the nation had succeeded in meeting every single one of its international commitments, even during the pandemic, earning it the title of being a trusted partner to the world.

 

Highlighting the progress made in FTA negotiations, Shri Goyal said that the Government was striving to conclude several Early Harvest Agreements so that their benefits could reach industry soon. He said that an FTA with UAE was nearing conclusion, negotiations were at an advanced stage with Australia and that discussions with Israel were ongoing.

 

Referring to the relaunch of market access negotiations with Korea, Shri Goyal said that a comprehensive fast track dialogue had been initiated to address concerns arising out of the previous agreement.

 

The Minister said that there was an imminent need for upgradation of testing facilities and labs to improve to quality and called upon Indian Industry to extend its support in this regard. He also asks the industry to lend guidance for transformational exports growth beyond $ 400 billion.

 

Shri Goyal told industry leaders to be proactive in giving inputs to the government, especially in arenas like FTA negotiations. Industry should become more demanding, he added.

 

He urged Industry to use Single Window for business processes and approvals to the maximum extent possible and asked them to give suggestions and inputs for further decriminalization of rules and reduction of compliance burdens wherever feasible.

 

The Minister also asked industry to invest more and place greater emphasis upon Research and Development activities as a business and growth strategy.

 

Underscoring Government’s commitment towards infrastructure development and capital expenditure, Shri Goyal said that the Centre would always support businesses activities. He also asked industry to use initiatives like the PM GatiShakti National Master Plan and India Industrial Land Bank to the best possible extent to expand and grow. The Minister observed that by and large economic, activities had not being impacted by the current Covid surge.

 

Industry representatives present in the VC included Shri Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General, CII; Shri Subhrakant Panda, Senior Vice President & Shri Sanjiv Mehta, President, FICCI; Shri Vineet Agarwal, President & Shri Deepak Sood, Secretary General, ASSOCHAM; Shri Pradeep Multani, President & Shri Saurabh Sanyal, Secretary General, PHDCCI; Shri Pradeep Sureka, President & Dr Rajeev Singh, Director General, Indian Chamber of Commerce; Shri Juzar Khorakiwala, President & Shri Ajit Mangrulkar, Director General, Indian Merchant Chamber; Shri Gopi Koteeswaran, of the Southern India Chamber of Commerce & Industry; Shri Lalit Beriwala, Senior Vice President, Merchants’ Chamber of Commerce and Industry; Shri Vijay Kalantri, President, All India Association of Industries; Shri Rasesh Doshi, Vice President, Federation of Associations of Maharashtra; Shri Praveen Khandelwal, Secretary General, Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT); Shri Rakesh Chhabra, Vice President & Shri Anil Bhardwaj, Secretary General, Federation of Indian Micro and Small & Medium Enterprises; Shri Baldevbhai Prajapati, All India President, Laghu Udyog Bharati; Shri Ashish Aggarwal, Vice President & Head of Public Policy, NASSCOM; Shri Ravi Raghavan, President, Indian Machine Tool Manufacturers' Association; Shri Vinod Aggarwal, Vice President & Shri Rajesh Menon, Director General, Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM); Shri Sunjay J. Kapur, President, Auto Component Manufacturer Association (ACMA); Shri Vipul Ray, President, Indian Electrical and Electronics Manufacturers Association (IEEMA) and Dr Viranchi Shah, National President, Indian Drug Manufactures' Association.

Fresh fruit importers in the country are increasing their warehousing and cold storage facilities due to a surge in Covid cases. The demand for imported fruits has increased in the country due to the surge in Covid cases and fresh fruit importers are taking no chance to keep the supply chain smooth.

 

Talking to ET, Tarun Arora, director of finance and operations at IG International, a leading fresh fruit importer, said, ' In the globalized economy, warehousing and logistics are crucial aspects and play a strategic role in business growth.'

 

'IG International is the largest importer of fresh fruit in India. Cold storages form the lifeline of our business, as fresh fruits are highly perishable. One of the greatest successes of IG has been building a robust distribution network of fresh fruit in India so that fruit growers anywhere in the world and consumers in India can benefit from one joined-up marketplace. Our strategically located cold storages are our greatest enabler in keeping intact our supply chain,' he said.

 

Post pandemic, there has been a surge in demand for imported fruits for their immunity-enhancing and nutritional properties. Although over the years, other factors like healthy lifestyle choices, rising incomes, and increased affordability have also contributed significantly to the rising demand.

 

'At IG, we responded to this growing volumetric rise by continuously developing and investing in strategic infrastructure to supplement our supply chain management..IG’s investment in cold storage facilities involves decisions that are long-term in their implications and sustainable in nature. By adding 6,40,000 cubic feet of cold space recently in Delhi to our existing warehousing, we look forward to enhancing our reach and penetration throughout India to meet the growing aspiration of our customers,' Arora added.

 

Besides Delhi and Mumbai, the company’s other cold chain facilities are located in Panvel, Bangalore, Chennai, Ganaur, Chandigarh, Jaipur, and Amravati. IG International further plans to expand pan India in collaboration with JM Baxi,the integrated Infrastructure and shipping company, with similar cold chain terminals.

Iranian state agency the Government Trading Corporation (GTC) has issued an international tender to purchase about 60,000 tonnes of milling wheat, European traders said on Wednesday.

 

The deadline for the submission of price offers in the tender is also Wednesday, Jan. 12.

 

Volumes in Iran’s tenders are nominal and the country regularly buys more than the original tonnage sought.

 

Traders said Iran last week purchased about four shipments of wheat each of about 60,000 tonnes likely to be sourced from Germany or Russia and the Black Sea region, traders said.

 

The new tender seeks shipment in February/March.

 

Iran has been a regular wheat buyer in recent months with about 740,000 tonnes also bought in December.

 

Iran needs to import around 8 million tonnes of wheat after its crop was damaged by the worst drought in 50 years, Reuters reported in October.

 

But western sanctions on Iran continue to make payment difficult, traders said.

An intense focus on securing market access abroad and promoting Indian goods saw dozens of new products including Himachali millets and Chandauli’s black rice being shipped from India to several new destinations such as the UAE, and Denmark

 

Agricultural laborer in Maharashtra.

 

India’s agriculture and allied exports grew at a brisk 21 percent in the first eight months of the current financial year despite broken supply chains and various challenges brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. Exports were boosted by increased access to markets in the United States, European Union and the United Arab Emirates, and targeted efforts by the government to expand the global reach of processed food from India.

 

Commerce ministry data shows that exports of farm produce, both processed and unprocessed, climbed to $29.51 billion between April and November 2021. The government expects total exports from the sector to rise to $43 billion by March 2022.

 

The growth in farm produce exports was led by a sharp rise in the exports of non-basmati rice, other cereals, dairy items and sugar, all of which grew by at least 40 percent in the April-November period of 2021-22.

 

Data showed that while the global commodity supercycle played a part in raising the prices of non-food products such as tea, cotton and rubber, prices of food products have remained stable.

 

The vast majority of food exports showed growth in the volume of outbound shipments in tandem with higher foreign exchange earnings. This was especially true for the top three products in the agri export basket in the current financial year, namely non-basmati rice (46 percent growth), buffalo meat (6.5 percent) and sugar (39.8 percent).

 

Broad-based growth

 

A deep dive into the data shows that the latest growth has been broad-based. According to the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), which tracks non-plantation crops, the export basket stood at $13.1 billion in just the first seven months of the current fiscal. The figure was $20.6 billion for the full 2020-21 financial year, which had gone up from $16.4 billion in 2019-20.

 

'Plantation crops like rubber and tea have well-established trading chains and are heavily invested in. But to build up global demand for products like spices, dairy, and vegetables and fruits requires coordinated efforts to open foreign markets for Indian goods. It is also crucial to promote them extensively and bring together both domestic and foreign industries. All this has been done in the past three years, and the results are now coming in,' said a senior APEDA official.

 

Exports of spices like ginger, pepper, cinnamon, cardamom, turmeric and saffron, which have known therapeutic qualities, have also grown substantially. Meanwhile, the Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA) said that shrimp and prawn exports have already reached 88 percent of the total export value of last year.

 

A range of new products has also been shipped abroad for the first time in FY22. These include fresh vegetables and mangoes from Varanasi, black rice from Chandauli, oranges from Nagpur, banana from Theni, bhoot jolokia chilli from Nagaland, red rice from Assam and millets from Himachal Pradesh, among others.

 

The government has also significantly pushed exports of processed items such as honey, cocoa, fruit jams, and wine in which India hasn’t shared global expertise till now.

 

India has now become the ninth-largest honey exporter in the world, shipping out 7.36 lakh tonnes in the previous financial year with the US as the largest buyer at 80 percent.

 

'We are working in close collaboration with the state governments, farmers, and other stakeholders in the value chain to boost exports to other countries and regions such as the United Kingdom, European Union, and Southeast Asia. India is also renegotiating the duty structure imposed by various countries for boosting honey exports,' the APEDA official added.

 

The commerce department has also focused its efforts on parts of the country that have hitherto lagged behind, such as the landlocked Purvanchal region in Uttar Pradesh, which is now home to the Varanasi Agri-Export Hub.

 

Challenges remain

 

However, agri exports have continued to face logistics hurdles, especially the global shortage of containers. As the number of available containers plummeted, the average prices of shipments skyrocketed, leading to many overseas buyers canceling orders.

 

'The lack of refrigerated containers has pushed up freight charges to unsustainable levels, whereby the freight costs have become more than production value,' said Ajay Sahai, director-general and chief executive officer of Federation of Indian Export Organisations. This has particularly hit India’s seafood exports, which rest heavily on shipments of fish and prawn to European and West Asian markets.

 

Despite the government’s aim of boosting agri exports, the sector has seen growth in fits and starts, often outright contracting. In fact, non-plantation crop exports had been to the tune of $17.3 billion a decade ago in 2011-12, compared to $13 billion currently.

 

Low recall value for Indian products has also plagued the sector. Now, products with registered geographical indications (GI) have been specifically promoted by organising virtual buyer-seller meets with the UAE, the US and other nations. To ensure seamless quality certification of products to be exported, APEDA has recognised 220 laboratories across the country to provide testing services to a wide range of products.

 

Room for growth

 

India’s share in world agricultural exports stood at 2.1 percent in 2019, moving up from 1.71 percent in 2010. However, India’s rank in worldwide agricultural exports only crept up to 16 in 2019 from 17 in 2010, according to data released by the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

 

According to the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), India is the largest producer of pulses (25 percent of global production), milk, and jute.

 

It is also the second-largest producer of rice, wheat, sugarcane, cotton, and groundnuts, as well as the second-largest fruit and vegetable producer, accounting for 10.9 percent and 8.6 percent of the world's fruit and vegetable production, respectively.

 

Interestingly, India also had the world’s largest cattle population as of 2019. According to the National Dairy Development Board, the total bovine population, including adult cows and buffaloes, stood at 302.2 million as of 2021. This makes the country’s cattle population even larger than that of Brazil, which has the largest mega ranches in the world, and the open cattle pens of western US. India is also home to 535 million livestock, mostly goats and sheep.

 

Now, rising income levels from agriculture have led to more investments in the sector and a stabilisation of the workforce. The agriculture ministry estimates that agriculture and allied sectors employed more than 50 percent of the Indian workforce. The percentage share of gross value added of agriculture and allied sector to India’s total economy stood at 20.2 percent in 2020-21, up from 18.4 percent in the previous year.

 

Subhayan Chakraborty has been regularly reporting on international trade, diplomacy and foreign policy, for the past 6 years. He has also extensively covered evolving industry and government issues. He was earlier with Business Standard newspaper.India reaps high growth from agriculture, allied products in FY22.

 

An intense focus on securing market access abroad and promoting Indian goods saw dozens of new products including Himachali millets and Chandauli’s black rice being shipped from India to several new destinations such as the UAE, and Denmark

 

 

Japan's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) said on Wednesday that it will seek 80,000 tonnes of feed wheat and 100,000 tonnes of feed barley to be loaded by Feb. 15 and arrive in Japan by March 17, via a simultaneous buy and sell (SBS) auction that will be held on Jan. 19.

 

Japan buys and sells its feed wheat and barley via so-called SBS auctions, in which end-users and importers specify the origin, price and quantity of grain, allowing millers to meet their varied needs for the feed grain.

The Union government has secured the approval of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) for export of Indian mangoes to the USA in the new season. The export of Indian mangoes has been restricted by the USA since 2020 as USDA inspectors were unable to visit India due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

 

The USDA’s approval would pave the way for exports from traditional mango production belts such as Andhra Pradesh.

 

While several countries import mangoes based on the certification given by the phytosanitary inspectors of Andhra Pradesh, countries like the USA and South Korea deploy their own inspectors to India to certify the mango consignments.

 

According to industry sources, traders export about 10,000 tonnes of mangoes from Andhra Pradesh to various countries every year. But the official estimates put this figure at about 2,000 tonnes. The difference in the numbers stems from the fact that the traders, after procuring mangoes from the state, export them from international flights and ports in other states like Maharashtra, Telangana, Karnataka, etc.

 

Additional director, department of horticulture, M Venkateswarulu, said that irradiation treatment is a must to export mangoes to the USA. 'Vapour heat treatment is required to export mangoes to countries like South Korea and Japan. Andhra Pradesh has two VHT facilities in Tirupati and Nuzvid out of the four such facilities in the country. The export norms vary from country to country. For instance, several Middle East countries import mangoes certified by the state’s phytosanitary inspectors. But it is different for countries like the USA, Japan, South Korea, Australia, etc.' said Venkateswarlu.

 

The additional director added that Andhra Pradesh horticulture department has eight phytosanitary inspectors. 'Processes like irradiation are aimed at eliminating the live pest, fungus or disease in the mangoes. The state horticulture department is conducting training programmes for the farmers, in association with the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority, to enable them to utilise export opportunities in overseas markets. Banganapalli, Suvarnarekha, Alphonso and Collector are the most exported mango varieties from the state. The horticulture department is working towards increasing the mango exports from the state,' said M Venkateswarulu.

 

Industry sources said that lack of international cargo and relatedinfrastructural facilities at the airports of the state is hampering the direct export opportunities from the state. The traders have to rely on shipping ports and airports in other states. Similarly, Andhra Pradesh has 12 pack houses for horticulture crops. But these also reportedly lack connecting facilities to improve the export scenario of the state.

Sri Lanka’s cabinet of minister has approved the import of 300,000 metric tonnes of rice to increase the supply, a government statement said, with crop losses expected due to the use of organic fertilizer.

 

The Minister of Trade had been given approval to import 200,000 metric tonnes of Nadu type rice (parboiled) and 100,000 tonnes of GR11 short grain rice.

 

GR11 is a substitute for Samba, the statement said.

 

The cabinet had earlier approved the import of 100,000 metric tonnes of rice.

 

These rice will be imported from India, cabinet spokesman Minister Ramesh Pathirana said.

 

Rice prices have moved up and imports are to stabilize prices, he said.

 

Stat-run Sathosa and some private traders have been allowed to import rice, Minister Pathirana said.

 

At least 30,000 metric tonnes had been imported from Myanmar.

 

Sri Lanka has restricted the import of rice which has allowed millers to drive up prices.

 

However in the Maha season, where harvesting begins from around February, crop losses are expected due to a ban on chemical fertilizer and agro-chemical import.

The Minister for Trade of the Republic of Korea paid an official visit to India at the invitation of Sri Piyush Goyal, Minister of Commerce & Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution and Textiles of the Republic of India. Trade Minister Mr. Yeo met with the Commerce and Industry Minister Mr. Piyush Goyal in New Delhi today. 

 

Both the Ministers held wide ranging discussions covering the whole gamut of Bilateral Trade and Investment related aspects. The Ministers agreed to impart fresh momentum to the discussions on CEPA up-gradation negotiations and also promote  extensive B2B  interactions  on trade and investment between the Industry leaders of the two countries.  

 

The two Ministers agreed with the spirit of openness to address difficulties expressed by industry from both sides  and instructed their respective negotiating teams to meet on a regular basis in order to conclude the  CEPA up-gradation negotiations as soon as possible in a time bound manner building upon support from relevant stakeholders, so as to try to achieve the target of USD 50 Billion before 2030 which was agreed at the summit meeting in 2018. 

 

This regular negotiations shall be a forum to discuss the difficulties of business community from both countries and emerging trade-related issues including supply chain resilience. The Ministers agreed to boost bilateral trade between India and Korea to achieve growth in a fair and balanced manner to the mutual advantage of both sides.

Commerce Ministry hopes to achieve the $400-billion export target for 2021-22

 

India’s exports continued to grow steadily in the first week of January 2022, posting a 33.16 per cent increase (year-on-year) to $7.63 billion, per preliminary weekly data shared by the Commerce & Industry Ministry.

 

Exports, excluding petroleum, increased in this period by 24.97 per cent compared to the same period of 2020-21, indicating that export growth was experienced in a number of sectors.

 

In December 2021, exports recorded the highest ever monthly performance of $37.29 billion, posting a growth of 37 per cent over the same month of the previous fiscal. The top sectors were petroleum, gems & jewellery, engineering products, pharmaceuticals, chemicals and textiles registering lead.

 

India’s imports, too, increased sharply by 38.06 per cent in December 2021 to $59.27 billion with trade deficit widening to $21.99 billion compared to $15.72 billion in December 2020.

 

Exports in the April-December 2021 period at $299.74 billion recorded a 48.85 per cent growth over exports in the same period of the previous fiscal.

 

The Commerce Ministry is positive about achieving the $400-billion export target set for 2021-22 although it is apprehensive that the fast spread of the Omicron variant of the Covid-19 virus could lead to problems related to shipping and container availability.