Piyush Goyal who took charge as the minister of commerce and Industry for the second term on Tuesday reviewed the status of various free trade agreements that India is negotiating and the 100-day agenda of the ministry.
Along with Goyal, Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Jitin Prasada also assumed charge and participated in the review meeting with the top officials of Department of Commerce (DoC) and Department for Promotion of Industry and internal Trade (DPIIT).
When the election process was on, a team of Indian officials had visited London in April for another leg of talks on agreement for negotiations on outstanding issues. With the European Union a stock taking meeting was held in May. Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal and Director General of EU had participated in those discussions.
While with the UK, the 14th round of negotiations was in progress, With the EU the eighth round of talks are scheduled from 24th of this month in Brussels.
In May the first Joint Committee Meeting (JCM) under India-Australia Economic Co-operation and Trade Agreement (Ind-Aus ECTA) was held. Both sides are now negotiating on expanding ECTA and converting it into a Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement.
In April India and Peru had a 7th round of discussions on the FTA and an eighth round of talks are expected to be held in July. Last month a Joint Committee meeting was also held for the review of the Asean-India Trade in Goods Agreement (AITGA).
Officials of DoC and DPIIT have been working on the 100-day agenda when the election process was on and secretaries of DoC and DPIIT made a presentation on it, a statement said.
Goyal directed that a series of meetings must be scheduled in the coming days to delve into the details of various policies and action items that have to be finalised. He also said the Steering Committee on Advancing Local value-add and Exports (SCALE) Committee and Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Schemes must be utilised to their full potential to boost exports and domestic production.
Some of the proposals that are part of the 100-day agenda drawn up by officials will require legislative changes or approval from the cabinet. The review over the next few days will decide on the best way forward to meet the goals of the agenda, the official added. Some of the items that are part of the agenda include changes in Special Economic Zones Act, steps to boost e-commerce exports, extension of interest equalisation scheme for exporters and wrap up FTA negotiations with Oman and UK. DPIIT’s plans include reforms for Ease of Doing Business, review of Foreign Direct Investment rules, Deep Tech Start-up Policy and enhancing funding for start-ups at the early stage.