The government is committed to supporting establishing the semiconductor industry in the country which will also help in reducing foreign exchange outflows, Union minister Piyush Goyal said on Thursday.
Union Minister Piyush Goyal (File Photo)
Mumbai:
The Commerce and Industry Minister's remarks come days after Tata Group announced its intention to enter the semiconductor segment, amid significant shortage of semiconductors worldwide that has also started impacting various industries.
Speaking at an event organised by the commerce ministry, Goyal said creating the semiconductor industry and strengthening the shipping industry will help push the ''Aatmanirbhar'' or self-reliance initiative of the government.
"There is a worldwide shortage of semiconductors and the government is very much focused on bringing the semiconductor industry to India… the government is committed to supporting both these sectors," he said, specifying that the other sector to be supported is the shipping industry.
Last week, Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrasekaran announced that the conglomerate is mulling manufacturing the critical components in the semiconductor industry. The group''s auto business is itself facing a shortage of semiconductors.
On Thursday, Goyal also hoped that "large corporates" will be taking interest in the shipping industry, which will give the right impetus to the crucial sector for the country's foreign trade.
Acknowledging that exim trade is facing issues on the container front, Goyal explained that much of it was due to global problems. The government is trying to be self-sufficient in manufacturing new containers and the state-owned Concor has come out with a policy for the same.
As many as 34 domestic entities have evinced interest in the expression of interest floated by Concor for the container manufacturing contract and added that India has the potential to be self-sufficient on this front as well, he noted.
The minister also assured the industry that there will be consistency in policies. Last week, he had voiced concerns about India Inc allegedly acting against the country's interest and also mentioned about Tata Group's conduct, triggering a controversy.
India looks to work with US on market access issues
India will look at working with the US on market access issues to promote bilateral trade as Washington has indicated that it is not looking for a new trade agreement as of now, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Thursday.
He also said that Australia has shown significant interest to do an early harvest pact with India and exporters should share areas of their interest with the ministry. An early harvest with countries like Australia will help India engage with others on similar lines, Goyal said.
''The US as of now has kind of indicated that they are not looking for new trade agreements, but we look at working with them for more market access issues on both the sides and I think that would also be a big relief and a big opportunity opener for our export sector,'' he said while addressing the Export Promotion Council leaders in Mumbai.
On the proposed free trade pact with the UK, the minister said it is progressing well as both the teams are in talks.
''We are working with line ministries on areas where we can quickly close the deal in terms of an early harvest if possible, so instead of trying to address 11,000 lines (or products), we can look at areas of their immediate interest and our immediate interest,'' Goyal said.
On the comprehensive trade pact with the European Union, he said discussions have started as the EU is a 27-nation bloc, an agreement with them is a much longer process. ''We will work very hard to speed it up,'' he added.
The minister also assured the industry that India will not allow the ''same mistakes'' that were made in the past FTAs and is trying to allow an interactive approach this time.
''We are engaging with all of you and industry to ensure that FTAs are fairly and equitably crafted, bringing in more elements of reciprocity. But FTA cannot be a one way traffic. We also have to open our markets to others if we are wanting a larger pie in their markets, and therefore my appeal and request to all is to also identify areas where we have the confidence that we can withstand competition,'' he said.
He expressed hope for ''an early win'' with Australia. India has also started talks for a pact with Bangladesh.
''Our effort is to ensure that we focus on countries where we have significant potential and more with the developed world where we can compete better and where market size is of considerable value,'' the minister said.
He also urged export promotion councils to study FTAs and see whether there are ''hidden'' opportunities in them as it will help India set significantly higher export targets for 2022-23.
He informed that exports are doing good and it has increased by 55 per cent to USD 15 billion during the first two weeks of August.
Further, he said that two areas where significant opportunities for investment exist are shipping and semi-conductors.
On interest equalisation, he said it is at an advanced stage of finalisation within the government and ''we hope that very soon we will be able to push out a cabinet note on that''.
On Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products (RoDTEP) scheme, he said steel, pharma, and chemicals sectors are not covered due to a lack of adequate budget.
''But we have an open mind to consider concerns and rectify mistakes that might have crept in if anyone feels it is detrimental to their industry,'' he added.
He also informed the exporters that the ministry is setting up two separate divisions which will focus entirely on the services sector. The minister said a policy would be announced for Santacruz Electronics Export Processing Zone (SEEPZ), besides Rs 50 crore would be used to set up a common service centre there and roughly Rs 200 crore for refurbishing or rebuilding so that SEEPZ can become a role model of truly world class export promotion area.
In the meeting, Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) Chairman Colin Shah raised the issue of announcement of ecommerce policy for the sector.
On this, Goyal said it is at an advanced stage and ''we will finalise it shortly with the finance ministry''. The minister asked the export community to also target USD 2 trillion exports by the year 2030, comprising USD 1 trillion merchandise exports and USD 1 trillion services exports.
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