Japan was sharing all information on the nuclear radiation it was facing in the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami with India and a mechanism was in place to take care of the goods coming from that country.
This was stated by Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma at a seminar organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) on “Green Manufacturing.”
“I think what is coming particularly is food articles. I can say that despite the terrible tragedy that has befallen Japan, their institutions are efficient and they are sharing all information with other countries, including India.”
With radiation scare spreading across Asia, India was keeping a close watch on the food items imported from the island nation. India had all mechanisms to deal with such situations. “Whatever steps are required, we have inbuilt institutional mechanism to address these issues,” Mr. Sharma said. While India does not import primary food items from Japan, processed foods, seafood, oilseeds and seeds of vegetables such as cauliflower and cabbage are imported. Besides, fruits such as citrus, diary products, confectionery items, tobacco products also come from Japan.
On disruption of the shipping lines between India and Japan, the Minister said because of the tsunami and earthquake the movement of ships could stand affected. “It is one of the worst natural disasters and naturally systems will get affected.” Industry would assess the impact of the tragedy on India's trade and investment.
Mr. Sharma noted that Japan had the capability to recover from the tragedy. The CII was preparing an internal document to asses the impact of the tragedy, which would be discussed both by the government and industry.
On the proposed manufacturing policy, Mr. Sharma said that soon a “dedicated meeting” would be held on the issue. “I am pushing it as effectively as we could. On Thursday, I had a session with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to discuss this and we will have a dedicated meeting this month-end.''
For the last one year, the Commerce Ministry was working to put together a policy that ensured growth and investment in the manufacturing sector. India was aiming to increase its share in the sector, which contributed over 80 per cent to the country's overall industrial production, from 16-17 per cent to 25-26 per cent of the GDP by 2020.
