Exports from SME-dominated sectors hit by weak global demand

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SME Times News Bureau | 20 Mar, 2013
Exports from the country's key industrial sectors, which are labour intensive and largely dominated by small and medium enterprises (SMEs), have been affected in the current year due to demand slowdown in global markets, Government data reveals.

"Due to global slowdown exports from labour intensive sectors has also been affected in the current year as compared to previous year," Minister of State in the Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Dr. D Purandeswari informed the Lok Sabha recently.

According to official figures released by the Commerce Ministry, the sectors that witnessed fall in exports in the first nine months of the current fiscal are leather, engineering goods, textiles, carpets and handloom.

Total exports from these six sectors during this period amount to Rs. 3,52,447.45 crore (around US 65.37 billion).

During the April-December 2012-13 period, leather goods worth Rs. 19,352.55 crore were exported from the country. Exports from the sector in 2011-12, 2010-11 and 2009-10 were Rs. 22,972.30 crore, Rs. 17,817.78 crore and Rs. 16,355.09 crore, respectively.

Engineering good exports amounted to Rs. 2,23,545.18 crore in the first three quarters, while total exports for the full financial years of 2011- 2012, 2010-11 and 2009-10 were 2,79,697.82 crore, Rs. 2,26,805.21 crore and Rs. 1,84,001.75 crore, respectively.

Textile exports reached Rs. 1,02,357.10 crore in April-December 2012-13. In the previous financial years 2011-12, 2010-11 and 2009-10 the sector exported goods worth Rs. 1,30,190.54 crore, Rs, 1,05,612.84 crore, and Rs. 88,491.61 crore, respectively.

During the same period, handicraft exports stand at Rs. 954.89 crore, compared to Rs. 1,331.66 crore, Rs. 1,170.51 crore, and 1,384.25 crore for 2011-12, 2010-11 and 2009-10, respectively.

Carpet exports in the first nine months amounts to Rs. 3,975.07 crore. In 2011-12, 2010-11 and 2009-10, carpet exports stood at Rs. 4,071.29 crore, Rs. 4,718.34 crore, and Rs. 3,565.04 crore, respectively.

Exports of handloom products in the first nine months of the current financial year stand at Rs. 2,262.66 crore, against Rs. 2,623.96 crore and Rs. 1,574.95 crore in 2011-12 and 2010-11, respectively.

Revealing the export figures, Purandeswari said that the Government continuously monitors the export performance of different sectors including labour intensive sectors and takes need based measures from time to time, keeping in view the financial and overall economic implications.

"In furtherance of the above strategy, the Government had introduced Focus Market and Focus Products Schemes to encourage exports of traditional as well as non-traditional products and to certain markets," the minister added.

In December, 2012 the Government took a number of export boosting measures, including 2% export incentive on the incremental growth achieved during January-March, 2013 over the corresponding period of 2012, inclusion of 5 new markets in the Focus Market Scheme, addition of 100 products in Focus Product Scheme, and extension of the Interest Subvention Scheme to specified tariff lines of engineering sector.