Search the Internet          Tips  Sites: Finance, Investment

Government to set up showrooms to boost exports

India may earmark several billion rupees to push exports by helping domestic industry set up product display centres in different parts of the world, a government official said on Tuesday.

"The government will have some kind of a corpus (fund) for this purpose. It could be several billion rupees," Director-General of Foreign Trade N N Lakhanpal told reporters.

He made the comments after addressing businessmen on the government's export-import policy in Calcutta.

He said some 20 display centres would be set up in both emerging and developed markets as a part of the government's drive to help Indian industry boost its export base.

India's exports in March this year rose to $4.27 billion from $3.86 billion a year earlier.

India has said it aims to achieve 18 percent export growth in 2001-02, the same as in the previous year. But analysts have said the slowdown in the United States, its key export market, could stand in the way of it attaining its goal.

"These display centres can be sector-specific or product specific... or even be multi-sectoral," Lakhanpal said.

The centres, which would include showrooms and warehouses, are expected to start being set up in the next five to six months.

Lakhanpal did not say which cities and countries the government was looking at to showcase Indian products.

"The initiative must lie with industry. We will talk to various industries and chambers of commerce on how to set up the display centres," he added.

Tell us what you think of this report