Exporters Interaction with Director General of Foreign Trade, Ministry of Commerce, Government of India at Ludhiana

Ludhiana, September 16, 2022: Federation of Export Organisations (FIEO) organized an Exporters Interaction with Santosh Kumar Sarangi, IAS, Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), Ministry of Commerce & Industry, and Government of India at Ludhiana. 

Santosh Kumar Sarangi during his address said that, “It is worth appreciating to mentioned that the Indian exporters have tremendously well achieved the overall export targets set for the current year with more than 400 billion dollars. The target of $1000 billion is not far at this pace and is also expected to be achieved during the next few couple of years”. He also mentioned that the, “Steps taken by various government departments or agencies  during the times of Covid- 19 Pandemic, were  aimed  to ensure smooth functioning of exports. India being the one of the fastest growing economies and  this year also the growth rate is expected  to touch around 7.5%”.

During his address, Dr. (Sh.) A. Sakthivel, President, FIEO said that “The exports play a critical role in the economic growth of any country. Ludhiana is a major industrial centre of Northern India, However, recent statistics shows that, the exports from Punjab are slowing down, while, India's overall exports grew by 28% during the  April  to July 2022 period, the exports from Punjab only grew  by 10%. Severe shortage of skilled workers, lack of knowledge about foreign markets etc, may be one of the  few  key reasons contributing to the slowing down of exports and it is important to address such issues with priority”.

Vikas Kumar,IRS Principal Commissioner, CGST Ludhiana during his address  shared his views and interacted with the participating exporters on various Taxation related issues faced by exporters from the region.  Vrindaba Gohil,IRS, Commissioner of Customs Ludhiana shared her views on “How the timelines in clearances are now speeded up the whole process and how quickly the refunds are processed by the Customs Department, providing them with timely liquidity to execute further orders”.

While addressing the participating delegates, S C Ralhan, Past President, FIEO said that, ”To improve and increase the contribution toward state’s exports, the MSME’s in Punjab need to be more focused, innovative, research oriented and actively exploring new markets for their product with improved services and timely delivery, the State Government should also support MSME’s by offering all possible support, conducive environment for growth and export oriented state level policies or schemes, encouraging  Punjab’s MSME to do well”.

Dr Ajay Sahai, DG & CEO, FIEO, while summing up the meeting said that, “Mr Sarangi has very well explained about the export performance of our country in recent times and accurately pointed out the important sectors, where the potential lies for future growth in exports. The new FTP will also be a road map to achieve our set export targets in the years to come, both for the goods and services sector".  

The session was well attended by close to 175 delegates representing various prominent export houses.