Following up his meeting with the Finance Minister, P. Chidambaram on Thursday, Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma will meet representatives of apex chambers and trade bodies to discuss the continued decline in industrial output and exports.
Mr. Sharma will meet representatives of Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) next week to discuss the worrisome situation that has already led to concern being expressed by international rating agencies. “Mr. Sharma will hold stakeholder consultations next week in the light of recent IIP figures and the evolving industrial situation,’’ according to an official statement issued here.
The worsening economic situation has pulled down the index of industrial production (IIP) by 1.8 per cent in June, the third fall in four months.
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Mr. Sharma, who had met Mr. Chidambaram on Thursday and discussed the economic situation and the continued decline in industrial production, has also expressed concern over the drop in industrial performance in the recent months. Hit by slowdown in the Western markets, India's export growth declined 5.45 per cent to $25 billion in June for the second month in a row.
Besides, Mr. Sharma has convened a meeting of the joint task force to review the situation and suggest remedial measures, it said. The task force, which is the established mechanism for obtaining inputs from the captains of the industry in the policy-making process, was formed in July last year. It includes industry leaders and government officials.