Engineering goods and carpet makers may soon find some relief with the government likely to announce sops in its forthcoming Foreign Trade Policy (FTP). These are sectors that are currently under stress thanks to the global economic turmoil.
“We can expect more measures in the FTP. We are working on the FTP,” said Anand Sharma, Minister for Commerce and Industry adding that the Ministry was in dialogue with all the stakeholders including trade bodies to finalise the proposed policy.
The proposed incentives will help these ailing sectors to boost exports and bridge the widening trade deficit, which touch $182.1 billion in the 11-month period of the fiscal.
“We had two rounds of consultation with the CII and FICCI. Now, we would have another round of consultation with exports council and FIEO. We will wrap up the consultation process and then start working to get the final shape to the FTP,” he said.
A high-level Board of Trade (BoT) -- the advisory body of Ministry of Commerce -- headed by Sharma is expected to meet on March, 22 to review the country’s export performance in the wake of uncertain economic conditions in Western markets.