With some labour-intensive export sectors lagging behind in the international markets, the Commerce and Industry Ministry is working out an “incentive package” for such sectors including tea, handicrafts and readymade garments to put them back on fast track growth.
Officials in the Commerce Ministry said the Directorate-General of Foreign Trade and the Commerce Secretary have completed sectoral reviews and a final analysis was being made to identify the sectors that are struggling even as exports clocked a growth of 26.5 per cent in November. The labour-intensive export sectors such as apparel, carpets, leather, textiles and handicrafts continue to lag behind due to weak demand in traditional markets such as Europe and U.S.
The Commerce and Industry Minister, Anand Sharma, said that interventions would be made in those sectors where it was needed and a set of sops to pep up the performance of these weak sectors would be announced shortly.
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Sectors in the red also include labour-intensive ones such as tea and cashew. Although, the incentives already given for market diversification have yielded encouraging results, some are still in the recovery phase and their needs and problems need to be addressed on a priority, he added.
Industries that might receive fresh incentives include carpets, tea, textiles, leather, handicrafts and some engineering goods, although exports from many of these sectors have now started to grow.