Govt looking at measures to sustain export growth

The Government may come up with a slew of measures to sustain the current export growth on the back of apprehensions that the global economic slowdown may see India miss the export target of $200 billion set for the current fiscal. The issue of measures needed to sustain export growth and a possible package for exporters is said to have been taken up at a meeting of a high-level committee appointed by the Prime Minister here on Monday evening. However, there was no word on the decisions taken at the meeting, which was attended by senior Ministers and Government officials including the Finance Minister, Mr P. Chidambaram, and the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission, Mr Montek Singh Ahluwalia. However, earlier in the day, the Commerce Minister, Mr Kamal Nath, told newspersons that the Government was now working on a package to help the exporter community and that it was looking at various measures that can help sustain exports. “Exports have gone down. I will be reviewing the situation to see whether the export target can be met or not. Up till now we are on track. But the next five months will determine whether the target is met,” the Minister told newspersons on the sidelines of the India Economic Summit. The Minister said there was bound to be a slowdown in exports in sync with the downturn in the West. Without getting into specifics of the package that could be offered to exporters, the Minister hinted that the Government could look at seeing how a level playing field can be provided to them – a move which could include measures such as doing away with duties and possibly local and state taxes.