The 1st TIWG meeting under India’s G20 Presidency is scheduled in Mumbai, from March 28th − 30th, 2023. During this three-day Meeting, over 100 delegates from G20 member countries, invitee countries, regional groupings and international organizations will engage in deliberations to accelerate global trade and investments. Over 50 delegates have already arrived in Mumbai to attend the meeting.

 

On the first day, on March 28th,  an International Conference on  on ‘Trade Finance’ will be held. The role of banks, financial institutions, development finance institutions and export credit agencies in closing the trade finance gap, and how digitalisation and fintech solutions can improve access to trade finance will be discussed through two panel discussions. Eminent speakers from India and abroad have been invited to deliberate and provide concrete solutions for mitigating the growing trade finance gap. It will be followed by a guided tour of Bharat Diamond Bourse for the G20 delegates.

 

Various experience zones on spices, millet, tea and coffee will be set up, and an exhibition on textiles will be on display during the TIWG meeting at the conference venue.

 

On March 29th, the TIWG Meeting will be inaugurated by Hon’ble Commerce & Industry Minister of India, Shri Piyush Goyal, along with Hon’ble Minister of State for Finance, Dr. Bhagwat Kishanrao Karad. The priorities related to global trade and investment, which the Indian Presidency is pursuing, will be discussed on March 29th and 30th across four technical closed-door sessions.

 

On March 29th, the deliberations will focus on making trade work for growth and prosperity, and building resilient Global Value Chains (GVCs). The emphasis will be on achieving shared outcomes for making growth inclusive and resilient, increasing the participation of developing countries and the Global South in GVCs, and building resilient GVCs to withstand future shocks.

 

On March 30th, the TIWG priorities on integrating MSMEs in Global Trade, and building efficient logistics for trade will be discussed in the two working sessions. The Indian Presidency aims to carry forward the work done by past G20 Presidencies to better integrate MSMEs into global trade, considering their primacy in sustaining livelihoods in both the developed and developing countries. The G20 delegates will also discuss the ways of developing robust logistics infrastructure that could reduce transaction costs both across borders and in the hinterlands.

 

The aim under India’s G20 Presidency is to build a shared understanding of the challenges being faced in accelerating global trade and investment, and how existing opportunities can be harnessed to formulate human-centric concrete outcomes and deliverables.

Union Minister of State for Commerce & Industry, Ms. Anupriya Patel inaugurated the 23rd edition of INDIASOFT at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi today. She said that by 2047 India would become a developed country with a GDP of USD 32 trillion, which would be a defining moment for India and the global community alike. This scale of growth would be greatly influenced by the strides India is making in the ICT sector, she added.

 

'From now to 2047, we fondly refer to Amrit Kal, a stretch of time  India is going to make big in every discipline... that is our shared vision, collective goal, and a transformative turning point in our glorious history', the Minister said, adding that India would be willing to share the technologies and devices developed, with countries desirous of acquiring them.

 

The Minister emphasized that all countries would have a stake in India’s growth story since the technologies and solutions developed would have universal relevance. In this regard, she appreciated that over 70 new products are going to be launched during the next three days at the INDIASOFT, which have been developed and perfected through the efforts of India’s highly talented pool of R&D professionals. 'This reflects the type of breakthroughs that India has achieved in the digital space and amplifies its resolution to become a developed country by 2047,' she added.

 

The Minister stressed that India’s exports, both merchandise and services, would peak at US$750 billion by 2022-23 as against over US$650 billion in 2021-22.  Services exports’ contribution, particularly that of IT and ITeS, would be substantial in reaching India’s export targets.

 

The Minister also said that by 2027 India would become a US$ 5 trillion economy, becoming the third largest in the world. 'On the 100th year of our independence, we will become a developed country', she pointed out.

 

Over 650 delegates from 80 countries are participating in the three-day event which kicked off today. More than 1500 Indian exhibitors are showcasing their products and solutions at the event, together with other collocated events. Ms. Grisel Eulalia Reyes León, Deputy Minister of Communications, Cuba and Mr. Rivas Stepke Luciano Alejandro, Regional Governor, Araucania, Chile also attended the inaugural along with their delegations.

 

Earlier welcoming the delegates Chairman ESC Sandeep Narula said that by 2030 India’s ICT sector would peak at US$ 1 trillion triggered by the focus the country is giving to R&D, innovation and disruption. He mentioned that India has been making solid forays into exports. 'When we started exporting IT & ITeS in the late ’80s,  it was only US$ 50 million, which has now peaked to  US$ 200 billion. He also said that India has digitized public services by introducing various schemes which enable citizens to access services from the government delivery systems with ease. 'Many countries can emulate India’s successful schemes and we are willing to share our expertise to scale up their digital programs,' he stressed. Mr. Narula said that through the INDIASOFT and the other international exhibitions in which ESC participates regularly, a lot of business opportunities for the Indian ICT sector have been generated. Those efforts, he said, would continue.

India's potential economic growth could get a boost if government accelerates implementation of its ambitious reform agenda, World Bank said in a report that also outlined policy prescriptions for banking and infrastructure sectors.

 

'Addressing the aftermath of financial sector distress could unlock significant growth,' the multilateral lender said in its 'Falling long-term growth prospects: trends, expectations, and policies' report released Monday.

 

The report stressed on the need to improve efficiency and depth of banking sector. 'Reforms could be undertaken to further rationalise the role of public sector banks, ensure a level-playing field in banking sector, and promote development of capital markets.'

 

On infrastructure, it suggested implementing reforms proposed by Task Force on National Infrastructure Pipeline, and improving contract enforcement, dispute resolution and financing.

 

'The steepest slowdown in investment growth over two decades to 2021 occurred in India,' the report noted. 'Investment growth in India slowed from an annual average of 10.5% in 2000-10 to 5.7% in 2011-21.'

 

Structural bottlenecks have proved to be barriers to investment, it said.

 

For the South Asian region, it suggested that increasing female labour force participation could increase potential annual GDP growth by 1.2 percentage points between 2022 and 2030.

 

For India, World Bank said, 'restrictive labour laws limit employment opportunities for women and discourage the adoption of new technologies, thereby reducing productivity in manufacturing'. India's female labour force participation increased marginally to 32.8% in 2021-22, government data showed.

 

India's estimates of potential growth since 2010 have been 6-8% a year.

 

GLOBAL GROWTH CONCERNS

 

The World Bank has raised concerns that the maximum rate at which global economy can grow without sparking inflation will slump to a three-decade low by 2030. It expects average potential GDP growth to dip to 2.2% a year between 2022 and 2030, with growth rate in developing countries slowing down to 4% compared to 6% between 2000 and 2010.

 

'A lost decade could be in the making for the global economy,' said Indermit Gill, chief economist at World Bank.

Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation releases data on various parameters of manufacturing sector including number of registered units engaged in food processing through the Annual Survey of Industries (ASI). As per the latest available ASI estimates, the number of units engaged in food processing sector increased from 40,579 in 2018-19 to 41,484 in 2019-20.

 

Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), has been mandated for laying down science-based standards for articles of food and to regulate their manufacture, storage, distribution, sale and import and to ensure availability of safe and wholesome food for human consumption.

 

FSSAI has specified the hygiene and quality standards for various food products including packaged food and non-perishable packaged food products produced by all food processing units in the country in their Regulations namely Food Safety and Standards (Food Products Standards and Food Additives) Regulations, 2011; Food Safety and Standards (Licensing and Registration of Food Businesses) Regulations, 2011; Food Safety and Standards (Health Supplements, Nutraceuticals, Food for Special Dietary Use, Food for Special Medical Purpose, Functional Food and Novel Food) Regulations, 2016; Food Safety and Standards (Organic Food) Regulations 2017; Food Safety and Standards (Packaging) Regulations 2018.

 

The quality and hygiene standards prescribed in these Regulations are enforced by the Regional Directors of FSSAI along with Food Safety Commissioners of States/UTs. 

 

In cases, where the samples are found to be non-conforming to the laid down provisions of FSS Act 2006, Rules and Regulations made thereunder, penal action is initiated against the defaulting Food Business Operators (FBOs), as per the provisions of FSS Act 2006, Rules and Regulations made thereunder.

 

Under the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for food products being implemented by Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI), since 2021-22, a component, with an outlay of Rs.800 Crore, for Millet Based Products was carved out in the current financial year to encourage the use of Millets in Ready to Cook/Ready to Eat products and to incentivise these products for promoting their value addition and sales. A total of 30 applications (8 large entities and 22 SMEs) were approved under this segment.

 

Under the PLI Scheme component for Millet Based Products, the packaged and branded RTC/RTE food products with more than 15% of millets by weight/volume in product composition, are eligible for claiming the incentives.

The Government, in a statement in Parliament, has said that a total of 1,138 agri startups are being supported by the Ministry of Agriculture, with financial assistance of Rs 70.30 crore wherein financial support of Rs 5.00 lakh is provided at the idea/pre seed stage and Rs 25 lakh at the seed stage.

 

'The technical and financial assistance are provided to startups to launch their products, services, business platforms, etc. into the market and facilitate them to scale up their products and operations to attain business viability,' reads the statement.

 

The statement added that agri-start-ups are at various stages of implementation from idea to scaling and growth stage. These agri-startups are working in different areas of agriculture & allied sectors for improving the farming practices such as precision agriculture, farm mechanisation, agri logistics & supply chain, waste to wealth, organic farming, animal husbandry and dairy & fisheries.

 

These startups are also being helped for their product & technology validation, market linkages, supply chain management, streamlining the distribution and scaling up of the product and operations, etc. with the help of five Knowledge Partners (KPs) and 24 Agribusiness Incubators (R-ABIs) across the country.

The Department of Consumer Affairs has constituted a Committee under the chairmanship of Additional Secretary, Smt. Nidhi Khare to monitor the stock of Tur held by entities such as importers, millers, stockists, traders etc. in close coordination with the state governments. The decision has come against the backdrop of reports of market players not releasing stocks despite regular arrival of imports in good quantities.

 

The latest announcement of a Committee to monitor stock disclosure indicates the government’s intention to deal with hoarders and unscrupulous speculators in the market. It also indicates the government’s determination to keep prices of Tur under control in months ahead. The government is also closely watching the stock position of other pulses in the domestic market to take necessary preemptive measures in the event of unwarranted price rise in the coming months.

 

It may be recalled that the government had issued an advisory to the States/UTs on 12th August, 2022, to enforce stock disclosure in respect of Tur under the Essential Commodities Act, 1955. Further, in order to facilitate smooth and seamless import, the government has removed the 10 per cent duty applicable for Tur imports from non-LDC countries as the duty creates procedural hurdles even for zero duty imports from the LDCs.

Egypt is looking to import at least 1.5 lakh tonnes (lt) of rice from India through the rupee trade route in view of the difficulties it is facing to make payments in dollars, trade sources said. 

 

'Egypt recently bought two ship loads of rice by paying in dollars. However, it faced tremendous difficulties in paying the money,' a source, who did not wish to be quoted, said. 

 

Cairo now requires another six ship loads of rice that could total over 1.5 lt and has sought to make the payment in Indian rupee, the source said. 

 

The development comes at a time when at least 19 countries, including the United Arab Emirates, Russia, Singapore, Germany, New Zealand and the UK, have agreed to trade in the rupee and give up the dollar as the cross-border transaction mode. 

 

Climate change may reduce wheat, rice yield sharply by 2050

However, Centre has formulated schemes to make agriculture more resilient, says NS Tomar

 

When contacted, BV Krishna Rao, President, The Rice Exporters Association (TREA), said exporters would be willing to take orders in the rupee route provided the Centre offers some concessions. 

 

Forward premium

This is because exporters get a forward premium of 0.5 per cent to 1 per cent while trading in the dollar. 'There are quite a few ways in which the government can compensate the traders for this,' he said. 

 

Rao, however, said the Centre should facilitate export transactions in the rupee in the long-term interest. 

 

Traditional relations

'The Centre should allow rice trade in Indian rupee to encourage Egypt which has had traditional commercial relations with India,' said a trade analyst from New Delhi. 

 

Not just Egypt but the entire North African countries are facing currency problems, particularly with regard to the dollar. Trade sources said Egypt had been taking several measures to tackle dollar shortage.

 

Cairo has begun trade dealings with Russia in local currencies and plans to rope in India and China in this. It expects to save at least $1.5 billion through such trading with India, China and Russia.

 

On the other hand, Egypt cannot get a more competitive rice exporter than India. According to the Thai Rice Exporters Association, Indian 5 per cent broken white rice is quoted at $432-36 a tonne compared against $448-52  and $477 quoted by Vietnam and Thailand, respectively. Pakistan is offering the rice at $453-57.

 

SEA estimates mustard production at record high 115.25 lakh tonnes

Remunerative prices in 2022 encouraged record plantings, while weather has been conducive

 

Barter with rock phosphate

In the case of 25 per cent broken white rice, India offers it at $417-21, while Vietnam and Pakistan quote at $428-32. Thailand sells it at $468.  

 

According to New Delhi-based trader Rajesh Paharia Jain, India can look at barter trade with Egypt by exporting rice and importing rock phosphate. 'We are a net importer of rock phosphate and Egypt has ample quantities of the commodity. It can help meet our fertilizer requirements,' he said. 

 

The trade analyst said exporters must think of cutting costs and look at process innovation in the short-term in the event of losing the forward premium they get while trading in dollars. 

 

Data from the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority show that Egypt has imported 76,858 tonnes of rice between April and January this fiscal. It is the highest since it imported 1.3 lt of rice in the 2018-19 fiscal. 

 

Export curbs

The demand from Egypt, which is not among the top buyers from India, comes at a time when India’s rice exports are picking up on demand from South-East Asia and Gulf countries. 

 

During the April-January period of the current fiscal, non-basmati exports have increased to 14.56 mt valued at $5.16 billion compared with 14.01 mt valued at $5 billion in the year-ago period.

 

Rice exports have fared well despite the government imposing a 20 per cent duty on shipments of white and brown rice shipments besides banning fully broken rice consignments. 

 

India curbed rice exports since September 8, 2022, as its rice production in the kharif season was feared to have been hit by deficient rains in key growing regions in the country’s eastern parts. 

 

For the current crop year to June, the Ministry of Agriculture has estimated rice production at a record 130.84 million tonnes against 129.47 million tonnes in the last crop year.

Sales of millets, both domestic and international, have increased by nearly 30 per cent after the declaration of International Year of Millets 2023, said the Agricultural and Processed Exports Development Authority (APEDA), based on the feedback from exporters.

 

'Further, the awareness about the millets and its products, and visibility of millet products in the supermarkets have also increased. They have also informed that due to the consistent efforts by the government, the customers have also started demanding millet products, which was hitherto a hard sell to them,' APEDA said.

 

The exports of millet and millet-based products have been on the rise over the past couple of years. From around 1.29 lakh tonnes, valued at Rs.434 crore in 2019-20, the shipments of millets and millet-based products have increased to over 1.59 lakh tonnes, valued at Rs.480 crore in 2021-22.

 

The eight per cent increase in exports from Rs.443 crore in 2020-21 to Rs.480 crore in 2021-22 can be attributed to the announcement by the United Nations General Assembly at its 75th session in March 2021, declaring 2023 as the International Year of Millets. India’s millet exports are seen rising further in the current financial year.

 

'The announcement of the International Year of Millets 2023 is widely regarded as a great booster to popularise Shree Anna products globally. Our exports are seen increasing close to $100 million this financial year and we will double our exports by 2024-25,' said APEDA Chairman M Angamuthu.

 

APEDA has identified 30 plus potential markets, a range of products, and possible sourcing points to boost the shipments. 'We do have a list of exporters, buyers, FPOs, and start-ups to support this cause,' Angamuthu added.

 

Rise in production

India’s millet production has also increased in the past few years, supporting the growing demand. From around 10.25 million tonnes during 2019-20, millet production has increased to 13.21 million tonnes during 2020-21, APEDA said citing the FAO statistics.

 

'We have a wide range of production base from deep South to the Himalayan region. The product base is also wide and we have rich opportunities to factor in the days to come. We will integrate Indian millets as a part of global cuisine involving all stakeholders,' Angamuthu said.

 

Further, APEDA said players in the millet value chain such as Bhoosiri Millets Farmer Producer Company, Haveri, Gaurishankar Food Industries, Shiggaon, Rajamudi Organics Pvt Ltd, Urban Monk Pvt Ltd, Samruddhi Agro Group, Barvi Agro Farmer Producer Company among others are witnessing an increase in demand for their products from both domestic and overseas markets.

Production of honey has seen 6.56 per cent growth and the export 24.02 per cent growth during 2021-22, the Centre informed Rajya Sabha on Friday.

 

In a reply to a query on National Beekeeping and Honey Mission (NBHM), Narendra Singh Tomar, Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, said the production of honey in the country went up from 1,25,000 tonnes in 2020-21 to 1,33,200 tonnes in 2021-22, registering a growth of 6.56 per cent.

 

India’s honey export has gone up from 59,999 tonnes in 2020-21 to 74,413 tonnes in 2021-22, registering a growth of 24.02 per cent. The Minister said the increase in production has directly enhanced the income of farmers/beekeepers.

 

Stating that various efforts were taken to achieve the target of 1,60,000 tonnes of honey production, he said some of the measures include awareness programmes, trainings, seminars, workshops, development of nucleus stock centres, development of bee-breeders and custom hiring centres, and plantation of bee friendly flora.

 

Out of the total 100 honey FPOs (farmer producer organisations) allotted, 80 honey FPOs have been registered till date by different agencies under ‘formation of 10,000 FPOs’ scheme of the Government. This also helps in increasing the income of farmers, he said.

 

As on date, 20.64 lakh of bee colonies have been registered on ‘Madhukranti Portal’ by beekeepers, societies, firms, and companies, etc., he said.

 

To ensure the quality of honey, four regional honey testing labs and 31 mini-honey testing labs have been sanctioned under NBHM.

 

PMFBY

To a separate query on the States with maximum number of beneficiaries of Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY), Tomar said 344.6 lakh of farmer applications were enrolled in Rajasthan during 2021-22. This was followed by Maharashtra at 99 lakh, Madhya Pradesh at 92.7 lakh, and Odisha at 81.6 lakh. The total number of farmer applications enrolled across the country stood at 831.8 lakh during 2021-22.

 

Agri start-ups

To another separate query on agri start-ups, Tomar said the number of start-ups in agri and allied sectors has gone up to more than 7,000 in 2022-23 from less than 50 before 2014-15. He attributed this to the support given by the Government in this regard.

 

The Department of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare (DA&FW) is implementing ‘Innovation and Agri-Entrepreneurship Development’ programme under Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) from 2018-19 with an objective to promote innovation and agri-entrepreneurship by providing financial support and nurturing an incubation ecosystem.

 

Five knowledge partners (KPs) and 24 RKVY Agribusiness Incubators (R-ABIs) have been appointed for incubation of start-ups and implementation of this programme across the country.

 

The Union Minister of State for Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Ms. Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti in a written reply in Rajya Sabha today informed that as per the 2nd Advance Estimates of Production of foodgrains for 2022-23 of Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, the production of total foodgrains is estimated to be 3235.54 Lakh Tonnes out of which the production of Millets is 159.09 Lakh Tonnes (4.92 per cent of total foodgrains production). State Governments have procured 6.07 Lakh Tonnes of millets during Kharif Marketing Season 2021-22 for distribution under the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS)/Integrated Child Development Services(ICDS)/ Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman (PM POSHAN/Mid-Day Meal Scheme) etc. The data of production of millets during last five years, is attached below.

 

Under the National Food Security Act, 2013, the term 'foodgrains' is defined as rice, wheat or coarse grains or any combination thereof conforming to such quality norms as may be determined, by order, by the Central Government from time to time. There is no specific provision for Millets under the Act. However, to improve the level of nutrition among the beneficiaries covered under the NFSA, all the States/UTs have been requested to procure millets and distribute for NFSA beneficiaries as per local consumption preferences and as per the guidelines issued by Government from time to time.

 

Recognizing the nutritional value of millets and the fact that consumption of millets can significantly improve key nutrition parameters among children and women in rural and urban areas the Government of India has created a sub-mission under the National Food Security Mission to encourage millet cultivation and its inclusion in Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS). Now, Millets are already a part of the TPDS. The procurement, storage, and distribution of coarse grains by States/UTs is done under Decentralized Procurement (DCP) system.

 

Production of Millets during last five years

S. No.	Year	Production
1	2017-18	164.36
2	2018-19	137.11
3	2019-20	172.6
4	2020-21	180.2
5	2021-22	159.9