By IANS
Noida : The export target of $160 billion for 2007-08 will not be revised but the government will consider sector-specific concessions to help exporters fight the rising rupee, Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath says.
“I hope in the next six months we will achieve the targets we have set. The exporters have economised and of course with the rupee there is a problem but we are not revising the target,” Nath told reporters here on the sidelines of an event.
“But we are holding a review meeting to see what more can be done (for the exporters). The government is considering and the cabinet is considering further measures for the exporters,” the minister said, adding that the measures would be not in the form of sops but “remissions and refunds of taxes and levies and we will see how they (exporters) achieve a level playing field”.
The minister also indicated that the cabinet might consider measures such as duty cuts for exporters.
“There are sector-specific measures, especially for large employment generating sectors,” Nath added. “We are looking to see that we do not lose our space in the export market, which we have developed over the years. It’s not losing value of exports but losing the space we have.”
He said the proposal for implementing such measures would be coming up for discussion in the next couple of weeks.
India registered a rise of 19.26 percent in its exports at $12.80 billion for the month of September with imports rising 2.31 percent to $17.22 billion, according to the trade data released Thursday.
Non-oil imports showed a fall of 0.15 percent at $11.72 billion, compared to $11.74 billion in September 2006.
“The negative growth in non-oil imports is due to a weak dollar and it does not reflect industrial slowdown. I am still very confident. It (exports) will pick up in the next six months,” Nath said.