Rebound in manufacturing and redressal of GST challenges will further boost India's exports, job creation and growth: FIEO

Ludhiana, October 13, 2017: The exports figure for the month of September, 2017, for 13 months in a row, have shown positive growth said FIEO President, Mr Ganesh Kumar Gupta as again 26 out of 30 major product groups, were in positive territory. Engineering goods, Petroleum, Drugs & Pharmaceuticals, Organic & Inorganic Chemicals, Gems and Jewellery, Marine exports, Plantations, Cotton yarns, fabrics & made-ups and Plastics & Linoleum were some of the sectors, which contributed impressively to the positive growth in exports during the month. However, some of the major labour-intensive sectors like Handicraft, Fruits & Vegetables, Meat, Dairy & Poultry products and Iron-ore have posted negative growth. The decline in these highly employment-intensive sectors is a worrisome sign observed FIEO Chief.

While we are very encouraged by the current trend in exports, said Mr Gupta, we also expect to see much more impressive growth in coming months with the major announcements done on the GST front addressing the liquidity concerns and imparting necessary competitiveness to the exports sector. Though global uncertainties, Rupee volatility and protectionism are still some of the major hurdles to our current growth in exports, FIEO Chief said that we are definitely on course to achieve about USD 310 billion exports during the fiscal as manufacturing data is also showing a rebound .

FIEO President Mr Ganesh Kumar Gupta said that issue of embedded taxes on exports, GST on Sea and Air freight for exports, Seamless timely refund should be the priority of the Government besides managing high volatility in exchange rate.