Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal. File
| Photo Credit: PTI

We are very confident that the Indian economy is poised for both healthy and organised growth and providing opportunities to lakhs of people across India, Union Minister Piyush Goyal said

Healthy increase in the country’s exports, improvement in the current account deficit (CAD) and focus on expanding manufacturing will help the Indian economy register a healthy growth rate, Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has said. He was here to participate in a programme of the gems and jewellery industry.

The Minister expressed confidence that India’s goods and services exports would cross $800 billion this fiscal. It was $778 billion in 2023-24 and USD 776 billion in 2022-23.

Mr. Goyal said that the mood amongst industry and exporters is “wonderful” and a “very great” sense of confidence is there among the investors about the India growth story.

“I think this year we will end with over $800 billion exports…We also focus a lot on expanding our manufacturing capacities, so that our import dependencies can come down and CAD is also showing healthy improvement in the last few months. We are very confident that the Indian economy is poised for both healthy and organised growth and providing opportunities to lakhs of people across India,” the Minister told PTI.

S&P Global Ratings has retained India’s GDP growth forecast for the current financial year at 6.8% and said high interest rates and lower fiscal spur would temper demand.

While another rating agency Fitch estimates India’s growth at 7.2% in FY25, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) estimates India’s GDP to grow at 7%.

Moody’s Ratings and Deloitte India estimates India’s GDP to grow at 6.6% in 2024-25 fiscal, while Morgan Stanley projects a growth rate of 6.8%.

When asked if the Ministry is looking at bringing an amendment bill on special economic zones (SEZs), Mr. Goyal said that several suggestions are on the table and are under consideration.

India recorded a current account surplus of $5.7 billion or 0.6% of GDP in the March quarter. This is the first time in ten quarters that the crucial metric of the country’s external strength has turned into surplus mode.

In the year-ago period, the current account deficit stood at $1.3 billion or 0.2% of GDP, and the same was $8.7 billion or 1% of GDP in the preceding quarter ending December 2023.

India’s merchandise exports rose by 9.1% to $38.13 billion in May even as the trade deficit widened to a seven-month high of USD 23.78 billion during the month, according to the latest government data.

New Delhi:

The BJP has ruled out any change in its leadership in Maharashtra, where the party had its second worst setback after Uttar Pradesh in the Lok Sabha elections. “There will be no change in leadership in Maharashtra,” Union Minister Piyush Goyal told reporters this evening after key leaders of the Maharashtra unit met party chief JP Nadda and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

The BJP won just nine seats in Maharashtra in the recent Lok Sabha elections, down from its 2019 tally of 23.

The tally was seen as a manifestation of the people’s disapproval of the political shake-up over the last few years and the BJP’s role in it.

The tremors had started with Uddhav Thackeray’s breaking ranks with the NDA and joining hands with Sharad Pawar and the Congress after the 2019 Lok Sabha election.

But before the newly formed Maha Vikas Aghadi could stake claim to form government, Devendra Fadnavis made an attempt to form government with the help of Sharad Pawar’s nephew Ajit Pawar and a few of his loyalists.

Three years later, the Shiv Sena split, pulling down the MVA government, and rebel leader Eknath Shinde formed government with the BJP, and became the Chief Minister.  He had subsequently let slip that the plan was formed with the help of the BJP.

It was followed by the split in the NCP. In both cases, the Election Commission awarded the party name and symbol to the rebels.

The verdict made the people’s disapproval clear. Both Uddhav Thackeray faction of the Shiv Sena and Sharad Pawar’s NCP won a huge mandate, and the Congress too benefited.

In 2019, the BJP – allied with the undivided Sena led by Uddhav Thackeray – won 23 of 25 Lok Sabha seats it contested in Maharashtra. The Shiv Sena contested 23 and won 18. This time, the BJP won just nine seats. Its allies — the splinter units of the Sena led by Eknath Shinde and NCP led by Ajit Pawar — won eight of the 19 seats they contested.

New Delhi:

Union minister Piyush Goyal told NDTV today that the electoral bonds issue does not figure among the key issues in the general election at all. “Nobody is asking,” he told NDTV when asked about the massive Supreme Court verdict banning them ahead of the general election in which the BJP is hoping for a third straight term in power. The Opposition, he added, were upset about the bonds because it interfered with their personal gains that came from skimming off party funds.

The Supreme Court, which scrapped the Electoral Bond Scheme on February 16, had objected to undisclosed funding through corporate donations, saying the voters had a right to know who were funding the political parties. This, Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud said, was because political contributors “get access”, which leads to policy making. “Financial supports to political parties can lead to quid pro quo arrangement,” said the bench led by Chief Justice Chandrachud.

“Bonds were brought in to ensure greater transparency in electoral funding,” Mr Goyal told NDTV in an exclusive interview. “I think the Congress is so used to black money in funding that they were very disconcerted or uncomfortable because we were ensuring that everybody gives money through a bank account, a formal system and then the money goes into the Congress bank account,” he added.

“My feeling is that many of these Opposition parties do not desire to get formal funding. They want to get cash funding. A lot of it they may be skimming off. God knows what they are doing. whether they are using it for the party or for electoral gains,” he said.

The BJP is the biggest overall recipient (Rs 6,986.5 crore) of electoral bonds since they were introduced in 2018. The Trinamool Congress was the second (Rs 1,397 crore) followed by the Congress (Rs 1,334 crore), BRS (Rs 1,322 crore) and Odisha’s ruling party BJD at ₹ 944.5. The DMK was the sixth biggest recipient.

Mr Goyal, who is contesting from Mumbai North, also said in Maharashtra, the public sympathy will not be with Uddhav Thackeray or Sharad Pawar. Mr Thackeray, he said, has not only betrayed the ideals of Bal Thackeray by joining hands with the Congress but also the BJP and broke their alliance.

“One usually has sympathy for a person who has been wronged. If anyone has been wronged in Maharashtra, it is Prime Minister Narendra Modi. If anyone has been wronged by the actions of Uddhav Thackeray, it is Devendra Fadnavis… In front of Uddhav Thackeray on stage, our leaders have said Devendra Fadnavis will be the Chief Minister. There will be sympathy for PM Modi, Fadnavis and the BJP who trusted Uddhav Thackeray,” he added.

Mumbai:

Union Minister Piyush Goyal on Saturday slammed Shiv Sena (UBT) leaders Uddhav Thackeray and Aaditya Thackeray for their ‘anti-development agenda” and for opposing the right of every slum dweller in Mumbai to “a better life”.

Earlier in the day, Aaditya Thackeray had latched on to a comment Mr Goyal, who is the BJP’s candidate from Mumbai North Lok Sabha seat, had made in an interaction with a media house about pursuing a project to ensure his constituency is slum-free.

The Union minister had welcomed the idea of saltpan lands in Mumbai being redistributed for slum rehabilitation.

Aaditya Thackeray had called it a “very dangerous scheme” and alleged the BJP was trying to remove slums and relocate those living in them to faraway saltpan lands.

A candidate from Mumbai North, Shri Piyush Goyal ji, of the bjp, said in an interview to a prominent newspaper that slums must go, and that they’ll probably be shifted out to all salt pan lands.

Goyal ji, the bjp has had a full majority (authoritarian) govt at the centre for 10…

— Aaditya Thackeray (@AUThackeray) March 30, 2024

In a post on social media platform X, Mr Goyal said, “Uddhav Thackeray ji and his son cannot dictate the fate of Mumbai. This city sustains the dreams and aspirations of everyone who calls it their home. Those who live in the slums of the city have every right to a better life.”

Uddhav Thackeray ji and his son cannot dictate the fate of Mumbai. This city sustains the dreams and aspirations of everyone who calls it their home. Those who live in the slums of the city have every right to a better life. To oppose me for a vision that sees Mumbai transform…

— Piyush Goyal (मोदी का परिवार) (@PiyushGoyal) March 30, 2024

“To oppose me for a vision that sees Mumbai transform into one of the finest cities in the world reflects their anti-development agenda. Their blind opposition to our bold ideas and commitment to take development to every doorstep reeks of a mindset to keep the people suppressed and deprived,” he added.

Mr Goyal said he was committed to providing a good home to every slum dweller and rehabilitating them where they live.

“The discredited, disheartened, demoralised and derailed leadership of Uddhav ji cannot provide solutions but only create discord in society,” the Union minister said, attacking the Shiv Sena (UBT).

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

Releasing its second list of 72 names for the Lok Sabha elections on Wednesday, the BJP has fielded five Union ministers from various states, including Piyush Goyal, who is set to make his electoral debut. His colleagues on the list are Nitin Gadkari, Anurag Thakur, Pralhad Joshi and Rao Inderjit Singh. 

Mr Goyal, who has been a three-time Rajya Sabha member, has been fielded from the Mumbai North seat, which has been held since 2014 by Gopal Shetty of the BJP. The minister – who holds the commerce and industry, textiles, and food and consumer affairs portfolios – joins health minister Mansukh Mandaviya and junior IT minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar, among others, who will be making their Lok Sabha debut. 

The decision is in line with the BJP’s strategy of making as many ministers as possible contest the Lok Sabha polls and win, instead of making their way into the Cabinet through the Rajya Sabha.

The choice of Nitin Gadkari as the candidate from Nagpur, seen as important also because it is home to the RSS headquarters, should not be surprising because the Road Transport And Highways Minister has been elected from the seat since 2014. Tongues had, however, begun to wag when Mr Gadkari’s name was not in the first list of 195 candidates released on March 2, which had featured other party heavyweights like Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.

Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray had even asked the minister to join hands with the opposition if he was “being insulted” by the BJP. Mr Gadkari had, however, rejected the INDIA bloc leader’s invite and dubbed it “immature” and “ridiculous”.

Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur’s name is one of two released for the four seats of Himachal Pradesh. He will contest from Hamirpur, a constituency he has won since 2008 and was also held by his father, Prem Kumar Dhumal, before him. 

Keeping up its focus on the south – where the BJP needs to do well to get its tally up from the 303 Lok Sabha seats it won in 2019 to the 370 it wants this time – the party has fielded Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi from Dharwad in Karnataka. Mr Joshi has been the MP from Dharwad since 2009 and Karnataka had contributed 25 of the 29 seats the BJP had won from the southern states in 2019.

Rao Inderjit Singh, who is the minister of state with independent charge of the Ministry of Statistics and holds other portfolios as well, will contest from Gurgaon. He has held the seat since 2009. 

Union Minister of Commerce & Industry Piyush Goyal. File
| Photo Credit: PTI

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has exuded confidence that during this fiscal, the country’s goods and services export numbers will be at the same level; as it was last year despite slowdown and uncertainties in the global trade.

He also said that the government measures such production-linked incentives schemes and focus on high-quality goods and services would help in containing the country’s trade deficit. So our trade deficit will be significantly lower than last year.

“I am happy to share with you that we close the current year in March at the same level as last year. We have a little bit of an adjustment between goods and services, but collectively we will be at the same level as last year, which will be a very, very significant achievement given that most developing countries and less developed countries are seeing a fall in their international trade,” Mr. Goyal told PTI in an interview.

Cumulatively, the country’s merchandise exports in April-January 2023-24 contracted by 4.89% to $353.92 billion. The estimated value of services exports during the ten-month period stood at $84.45 billion. In 2022-23, India’s goods and services exports stood at $776 billion.

The war between Russia and Ukraine; Israel-Hamas is impacting global supply chains and the Red Sea crisis has led to significant increase in transportation costs and delay as Indian exporters have to send their consignments through the Cape of Good Hope, encircling Africa.

The Minister said that India saw a scorching pace of growth in its international trade in the years between 2021 and 2023.

“We grew by 55% over a period of two years, both in goods and in services’. It went up to $776 billion in only two years. And with growth on both goods and services, we could clearly see that this year is going to be one where we will have to consolidate the gains,” he said.

When asked if the government is thinking of extending some kind of support measures to exports to deal with the crisis, he said the approach of being dependent on the government to resolve all the problems is something that now Indian industry also does not really desire.

“We have been able to change the thinking to bring the confidence in the Indian exporters that we should stand on our own feet. We should not be dependent on the crutches of the government. And I’m glad to share with you that they do not want the crutches of support anymore.”

“What we are doing is of course working through the military and the Navy to see that we can give protection to the ships traversing the Red Sea. We are also continuously in dialogue working with the countries in that region and with our own exporters, and very, very mindful and watchful of the situation,” he said.

When asked about the World Trade Organisation (WTO), the Minister said it is “very” relevant and will continue to increase in its relevance as the world needs a rules-based trading system, which is transparent.

“The understanding that is gradually creeping in that we will not allow ourselves to make the same mistakes that countries made in the rural ground, for example, in agriculture,” he said.

Certain quarters of experts are of the view that the WTO is losing its relevance as the member countries are not able to reach consensus on key issues.

On March 1, the talks at the WTO’s Ministerial conference ended with no decision on key issues such as finding a permanent solution to public food stockpile and on curbing fisheries subsidies, but the members agreed to further extend the moratorium on imposing import duties on e-commerce trade for two more years.

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal. File photo
| Photo Credit: ANI

New Delhi

Many developed and developing countries including Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and nations of the Gulf region are keen to start trade in rupee with India as it would help cut transaction costs for businesses, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has said.

He expressed confidence that the development is going to be a “very game-changing” dimension to India’s international trade.

“Bangladesh, Sri Lanka are already talking to us and they want us to start this immediately. Other countries in the Gulf region are looking at that. I think it’ll take some time for people to see the benefits. And then we’ll have more and more developed countries and countries in the Far East also joining the bandwagon. Singapore is already on board to some extent,” he said.

The Minister added that gradually countries are realising that undertaking trade in domestic currencies has several advantages.

Mr. Goyal said that it is now picking up traction and a lot of countries have come forward for this arrangement and are talking to India for that as they would also like to initiate direct transactions between their local currency and the rupee.

“Gradually the conscience is setting in that rather than converting all the transactions into a third currency, both ways, adds significantly to transaction costs,” Mr. Goyal told PTI in an interview.

Undertaking trade in other currencies leads to foreign exchange and transaction losses as there is a cost for conversion. The delays in the movement of money also pushed transactors’ costs.

“We started with the UAE. The UAE was one of the first countries to accept this. It’s now picking up traction. We get a lot of countries who come and talk to us that they would like to also initiate direct transactions between the local currency and the rupee.

“It’s a process which takes time. It involves the central bankers of both nations to create the framework and then it evolves acceptance by importers and exporters,” Mr. Goyal said, adding “when it will take off, it’ll just fly”.

The engagement is also beneficial as the Indian Rupee is mostly stable against most of the international currencies and according to experts, this is one of the reasons that different nations today want to have trade relations built on rupee trade.

The rupee trade is also helping many of the countries, which have dollar shortages.

India has started trade in the rupee with neighbouring countries, including Nepal and Bhutan. The rupee trade mechanism has been initiated to facilitate trade in national currency with Russia, while Sri Lanka has included the rupee in its list of designated foreign currencies.

India’s first-ever payment in rupees for crude oil purchased was from the UAE and that is helping the world’s third largest energy consumer to push for taking the local currency global, as it looks for similar deals with other suppliers.

Changes in FTP

Changes have been made in the FTP (Foreign Trade Policy) to allow international trade settlement in Indian Rupee with a view to making INR a global currency.

In July 2022, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) decided to allow the settlement of India’s international trade in rupee. Accordingly, authorised Indian banks are permitted to open and maintain special rupee Vostro accounts of the partner trading country’s banks.

These accounts keep the foreign bank’s holdings in the Indian counterpart in rupees. When an Indian trader wants to make a payment to a foreign trader in rupees, the amount will be credited to this Vostro account.

Similarly, in the reverse scenario, the amount to be paid to an Indian trader is deducted from the Vostro account, and credited to the person’s regular account.

Several banks, including HDFC Bank and UCO Bank, have opened special Vostro accounts to facilitate overseas trade in the rupee and many countries have expressed interest to have this arrangement for the local currency trade.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits the Kashi Vishwanath temple, in Varanasi, on March 9, 2024.
| Photo Credit: PTI

Election Commissioner Arun Goel resigns as Lok Sabha polls approach

Days ahead of the announcement of the schedule for the upcoming Lok Sabha election, Election Commissioner Arun Goel resigned on March 9. Mr. Goel’s tenure was till 2027. With his resignation, the Election Commission has been rendered with just one member — Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar. His resignation comes at a crucial time just days ahead of the expected announcement of schedule for the Lok Sabha election.

PM Modi arrives in Varanasi, takes out roadshow

Prime Minister Narendra Modi received a rousing welcome in his Lok Sabha constituency of Varanasi, with thousands of BJP leaders and supporters flooding the roads of the town. Mr. Modi is slated to participate in a public programme on March 10 in Azamgarh where he will inaugurate and lay foundation stones for multiple development projects worth over ₹42,000 crore in Uttar Pradesh. He will disburse the first instalment under the Mahatari Vandana Yojana in Chhattisgarh via video conferencing from Varanasi.

Krystyna Pyszkova from Czech Republic crowned Miss World 2024

Czech Republic’s Krystyna Pyszkova won the coveted Miss World 2024 title at a grand event in Mumbai. Pyszkova is the second Miss World from Czech Republic after 2006 pageant winner Tatana Kucharova. Mumbai-born Shetty, who was crowned Femina Miss India World in 2022, was unable to make it to the top 4 of the contest. The 71st Miss World pageant, which witnessed participation of contestants from 112 countries of the world, was held at the Jio World Convention Centre in BKC.

Congress compromised border security: PM Modi in Arunachal Pradesh

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on March 9 slammed the Congress for ignoring the border villages in Arunachal Pradesh for six decades because it did not find the frontier State worth investing in. Ahead of the simultaneous Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in the State, he said the grand old party allegedly indulged in corruption and compromising on the country’s border security for 60 years.

Centre to take all measures to contain food prices: Goyal

The Centre will pull all stops to ensure prices of essential food items from onion to tomatoes to pulses do not spike particularly during the elections, Union Minister Piyush Goyal said as he cited the Modi government’s track record of controlling rates within days of any temporary hike. He highlighted that the government has spent in the last few years about ₹28,000 crore to the price stabilisation fund to support the effort to fight against food inflation.

Fire power demonstration ‘Bharat Shakti’ to showcase indigenous weapon systems, ‘jointness’

A fire power demonstration ‘Exercise Bharat Shakti’ will be held on March 12 at the Pokhran firing range in Rajasthan to demonstrate the “prowess” of indigenously manufactured defence equipment of the three Services, the Indian Army, Navy and Air Force, with particular focus on “jointness” and synergy. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to witness the demonstration.

Electoral bonds | SBI plea seeking time till June 30 is condemnable: P Chidambaram

Senior Congress leader and former Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram on Saturday, March 9, 2024, strongly condemned State Bank of India’s plea seeking time till June 30 to comply with a Supreme Court direction, to make public, the details of electoral bonds purchased since April 2019. These details, Mr. Chidambaram said, could be compiled in a day. The Central government does not want the details to come out before the elections, he alleged.

Kerala CM orders CBI probe into Sidharthan’s death after meeting his family

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan ordered a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) enquiry into the suspected death by suicide of J.S. Sidharthan, a second-year student of the Kerala Veterinary and Animal Husbandry University at Pookode in Wayanad in mid-February. The student’s death had rocked State politics with Kerala Governor Arif Mohammad Khan, the Congress and also the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alleging that the Student Federation of India (SFI) activists in the college had tortured, shamed and put Sidharthan on public trial for some perceived campus demeanor, and left him to starve in his room for days before fellow hostelers found the student dead in a shared shower room in the college’s boarding house.

BJP discusses seat sharing pact for Maharashtra with Sena, NCP

Union Home Minister Amit Shah held discussions for seat sharing in Maharashtra for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections with coalition partners Shiv Sena chief Eknath Shinde and NCP. Mr. Shinde and Mr. Pawar — Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra — held talks with Mr. Shah in New Delhi late Friday. Senior BJP leader and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis was also present in the meeting. Mr. Shinde-led Shiv Sena, Mr. Pawar-led NCP and the BJP will contest the Lok Sabha elections in alliance in Maharashtra which sends 48 members to the lower house of Parliament.

Children fall to hunger in Gaza as Israeli siege cuts off supplies

Officials have been warning for months that Israel’s siege and offensive were pushing the Palestinian territory into famine. Hunger is most acute in northern Gaza, which has been isolated by Israeli forces and has suffered long cutoffs of food supplies. At least 20 people have died from malnutrition and dehydration at the north’s Kamal Adwan and Shifa hospitals, according to the Health Ministry. Most of the dead are children. Particularly vulnerable children are also beginning to succumb in the south, where access to aid is more regular.

Former Union Minister Suresh Pachouri, other M.P. Congress leaders quit to join BJP

Former Union Minister Suresh Pachouri, along with other Congress leaders in Madhya Pradesh, switched loyalties to the BJP on Saturday, dealing the Congress a major blow ahead of the Lok Sabha election. Those who quit the Congress and joined the BJP include: Gajendra Singh Rajukhedi, the former Lok Sabha MP from Dhar; former MLAs Sanjay Shukla of Indore-1; Vishal Patel of Indore’s Depalpur; and Arjun Paliya of Narmadapuram’s Pipariya constituency.  The development comes at a time when the Congress is deliberating on its candidate selection for the Lok Sabha election.

Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal. File.
| Photo Credit: ANI

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on February 19 exuded confidence that the Reserve Bank will cut interest rates as inflation is under control.

The RBI has been maintaining the benchmark interest rate at an elevated level of 6.5% since February 2023.

Mr. Goyal said that the economic fundamentals of the country are strong and inflation is under check.

He said that the average inflation of 10 years in India is about 5 to 5.5%.

It was the best-performing decade and because of that, the interest rate came down “dramatically” and the central bank was strengthened and had the ability to bring down the interest rate.

“Of-course in the last year and a half, post Ukraine-crisis, interest rates have again gone up by 250 basis points. But now that inflation is pretty much in control, I suspect we will soon see the reversal of the rate hikes starting in India, whether it happens in the next or the second monetary policy from now. I think it’s only a matter of time,” Mr. Goyal said.

In case the Reserve Bank goes for a reduction in the key short-term lending rate (repo), the cost of borrowings both for corporate as well as individuals, will go down, and hence EMIs.

The RBI on February 8, for the sixth time in a row, left the key policy rate unchanged at 6.5%, which may keep the cost of borrowings for both individuals as well as corporates largely stable, and lowered the retail inflation projection to 4.5 per cent for next fiscal.

The next bi-monthly monetary policy will be announced on April 5.

The consumer price index was 5.1% in January, down from 6.525 in January 2023.

The wholesale price index (WPI)-based inflation eased to a three-month low of 0.27% in January, mainly due to moderation of food prices, including vegetables.

The minister was addressing 35 journalists from 19 Latin American and Caribbean countries here.

He also said that the government’s ambition is to increase the current $3.7 trillion economy to be a $30-35 trillion economy by 2047.

Union Minister Piyush Goyal informed the Lok Sabha that a task force has been set up to identify, categorise and develop tailored strategies to resolve non-tariff barriers. File
| Photo Credit: ANI

The Government has set up a task force under the Department of Commerce to identify, categorise and develop tailored strategies for the resolution of non-tariff barriers, the Parliament was informed on Feb 5.

Such barriers include prior registration requirements in the exporting country, cumbersome testing and certification requirements and unreasonable domestic standards/rules.

Different countries enforce various regulatory measures to ensure the safety and quality of the products placed in their territory. These measures apply equally to domestic manufacturers and importers. However, such measures may sometimes act as trade barriers due to various reasons like gaps in the regulatory frameworks and quality compliance requirements of the trade partners, lack of transparency, arbitrariness or differing interpretation of the rules, and improper implementation.

“Taking cognizance of the challenges involved in mapping the trade barriers, and to give increased focus, a task force has been set up under Department of Commerce, to identify, categorise and develop tailored strategies for resolution of these identified non-tariff barriers,” Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.

The resolution of trade barriers, including ensuring increased and effective market access, is a continuous process and endeavour.

He said India also engages in regulatory cooperation to help ensure that global rules governing the regulatory structures are favourable and consistent.

Trading with Pakistan

Replying to another question on trade with Pakistan, the Minister said that in August 2019, Pakistan took a number of measures to downgrade the bilateral relations with India.

“One of the decisions was to unilaterally suspend the bilateral trade with India. However, export of only therapeutic products has been allowed,” Mr. Goyal said, adding that normally, the Atari-Wagah border and Karachi Port are the two major trade routes between the countries. “The onus of resumption of bilateral trade lies with the Government of Pakistan,” he noted.