The Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) has emphasised the significance of enhancing focus on technology-driven higher revenue-earning product exports, a strategy bound to benefit Telangana as the State looks to accelerate growth in several sectors from engineering, medical devices to pharmaceuticals.
An apex body of government-recognised export promotion councils, FIEO mooted a number of support measures, to be initiated by the Centre and the State governments, towards facilitating the change in composition of the export basket. Providing impetus to product manufacturing, on the lines of Thailand, South Korea and China, district industries centres (DICs) backing the One District One Product (ODOP) concept with sufficient infrastructure, reskilling/upskilling of the workforce as well as working to reduce logistics cost of export figure prominently in the list.
Sharing contours of the export strategy at a meeting of Telangana exporters that FIEO convened in the city recently, Director General and CEO Ajay Sahai said 70% of global imports were primarily technology-driven products in which India had a miniscule share as 70% of the country’s exports were non-high revenue-earning products.
Global imports of merchandise during calendar year 2021 were $21,875 billion while India’s exports stood at $395 billion with a share of 1.80% of world trade. Global imports of services totaled $6215 billion and India’s export $255 billion translated into 4% share, he told the meeting in which besides exporters, State and Central government officials and bankers participated.
Telangana exports were $11 billion in 2021-22 or about 2.6% of India's total merchandise exports, FIEO president A. Sakthivel told the meeting whose deliberations touched on the emerging opportunities and challenges due to current geo-political scenario, increase in raw-materials prices, logistics issues as well as on the newly signed free trade agreements.
Among other measures, FIEO highlighted the need to promote plug and play facilities like those Ethiopia provides to enable manufacturing operations to begin within one month after obtaining all clearances. Bangladesh gets its products manufactured and exported from there.
The meeting, in which Telangana’s Director of Industries D. Krishna Bhaskar participated, sought to underscore the need to reduce logistics cost of exports either by encouraging setting up large shipping companies or expanding Shipping Corporation of India. Tax breaks, promotion of brands on the lines of California almonds, facilitating cross border e-commerce and addressing GST and banking issues were also discussed.
Director and Head-Telangana Chapter of FIEO P. T. Srinath said more than 80 exporters from different sectors, including medical devices, life sciences, organic products, chemicals, cotton, engineering, agriculture and biscuits, rubber tyres and tubes, participated in the meeting.
