The government has readied a draft district-wise export promotion plan for 451 districts in the country after identifying products and services with export potential in 725 districts, Commerce Secretary Anoop Wadhawan said on Monday.
Aiming for double-digit export growth from 500 districts over 3-5 years, the Commerce Ministry has asked States to prepare an annual ‘export ranking index’ of districts on export competitiveness with the assistance of the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT).
While foreign trade constitutes 45% of India’s GDP, most export promotion efforts are driven by the Centre.
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The district-specific approach that perforce involves the States in identifying potential export sectors and the logistics bottlenecks to be fixed, was taken up after Prime Minister Narendra Modi pushed for each district to aim to be an export hub during his Independence Day address in 2019.
In the initial phase, products and services with export potential in each district have been identified and an institutional mechanism of State and District Export Promotion Committees (SEPC) are being created, with an action plan to grow exports from each district.
Draft District Export Action Plans have been prepared by regional DGFT authorities in 451 districts.
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“Products/services with export potential have been identified in 725 districts across the country (including Agricultural & Toy clusters and GI products in these Districts),” the Ministry said.
“District Export Promotion Committees have been notified in the districts of all the States except West Bengal,” it added.