Union Government set up Committee to Enhance MSME Exports

The Union government keeping into consideration the widening trade gap, had set up a six-member inter-ministerial committee in third week of April 2013 under the chairmanship of Finance Secretary R S Gujral to suggest measures for enhancing MSME exports.

It is important here to note that Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector contributes about 40 per cent in the country’s total exports and over 8 per cent to India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Duties and functions of the Committee

• The committee will suggest short and long term measures to enhance exports from MSME sector.
• It will submit its recommendations by mid-May 2013.
• The other members of the committee include Commerce Secretary S R Rao, Revenue Secretary Sumit Bose, MSME Secretary Madhav Lal, Financial Services Secretary Rajiv Takru and Chief Economic Adviser Raghuram Rajan.

Some Important facts to be remembered

• The export of India is declining drastically due to which its trade deficit has touched an all-time high of 190.1 billion dollars in 2012-13.
• India’s exports declined by about 2 per cent to 300.5 billion Dollars in 2012-13, which is far below than the 360 billion dollars targeted at the beginning of the year, due to the global demand slowdown.
• CAD crossed 6.7 per cent of the GDP in the third quarter of last fiscal which is emerging as a tough policy challenge for the government.
• According to the estimates, the share of MSME exports has fallen from 40 per cent to 36 per cent to the country’s total exports.
• The MSME sector accounts for around 45 per cent of the manufacturing output and provides employment to about 60 million persons through 26 million enterprises.