CHENNAI: With exports witnessing sharp declines in certain sectors and slowdowns in some others, Apex exporters’ body Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) on Monday demanded that the government embark on a detailed analysis of these sectors.
In June, the country’s exports grew by just 4.39 per cent year- on-year to $23.56 billion. In May, export shipments had increased by 8.32 per cent. According to FIEO’s statement, 15 out of 30 major product groups have recorded negative growth in June, including certain uniquely lucrative ones like handicrafts and carpets and high volume segments like textiles, pharmaceuticals, gems and jewellery, leather, oil seeds and tobacco.
“The decline in exports of pharma, leather, gems and jewellery is a cause of concern which needs to be looked into as all of them are important from export and employment perspective,” FIEO president Ganesh Gupta stated, adding that a sectoral analysis has to be done to pin point factors responsible for decline in such sectors.
However, other sectors have seen decent growth during June, including Engineering goods, Petroleum, Organic & Inorganic chemicals, Marine exports and Plantations. Liquidity issues in the exports sector under GST should also be addressed by offsetting of high cost of credit across the board and timely carry forward of taxes from pre-GST and expeditious refund, Gupta added.