An Exports Stakeholders Meet was organised here under the aegis of the Director General of Foreign Trade towards development of districts as exports hubs in Hosur on Friday.
Presiding over the meeting, Collector V. Jayachandra Bhanu Reddy said, “the genesis of the meeting stemmed from Krishnagiri being identified as one of the first 75 districts to be developed as a district export hub.”
Tamil Nadu ranked thrid in terms of inward remittances and Krishnagiri contributed to 16% of Tamil Nadu’s inward remittances, he said.
As a prelude to identification of Krishnagiri for promotion as District Export Hub, a District Export Promotion Committee was formed to formulate District Export Promotion Policy in consultation with the stakeholders, that included MSMEs, industry, DGFT and Industries Department. The administration and the government was prepared to meet the demand with acquisition of 6000 acres for the purpose of industry, the Collector said.
Speaking on the State-level initiatives to promote exports, Jagadeesh, Additional Director, MSME Department said, with the DGFT’s motto of promoting “one district, one product”, 10 districts of Tamil Nadu have been identified by the State Government.
Of the 750 districts in the country, 200 districts are sought to be covered in Phase I as part of the Union Government’s plan to have each district contribute to export market. In that, Madurai, Ambur, Pollachi, Coimbatore, Karur, Thootukudi, Kancheepuram, Chennai, Tiruppur and Hosur are identified, with a concerned line department corresponding to the existing industry facilitating the export promotion of the district.
According to him, Tamil Nadu contributed to 8.97% of the export market in 2020-21 and Hosur alone contributed 15% to 16% through its floriculture, automobile, and granite industry, which was in turn 70% of the State’s contribution.
Additional Commissioner of Industries and Commers Grace Lalrindiki Pachuau said Hosur was one of the four regions that included Tiruchi, Theni and Chennai that were selected for Tamil Nadu in the first phase of development of district export hubs. Mango pulp, granites and cut flowers have been identified.
C.H. Nadiger, Regional Director, Engineering Export Promotion Council of India, Southern Region said, Hosur despite being ranked third after Chennai, and Coimbatore in terms of exporting industries, in absolute numbers, the town had very few exporters. On its part, EEPC was willing to provide assistance through seminars and training programmes for entrepreneurs, Mr. Nadiger said.
B. Senthilnathan, vice-president of Hosur Industries Association cited the urgent need for freight movement from Hosur; a plan for a food processing park given the agro industries in Krishnagiri and the need for revision of the interest subvention to help small-scale industry.
K. Velmurugan, president of Hosur Small and Tiny Industries Association, flagged the lack of low-cost housing for workers to deal with attrition and pointed out how industry was blindsided by sudden changes in tax regimes.
A. Chellakumar, MP, intervened and stated that the freight movement would see fruition soon from Hosur. He earlier pointed out the challenges faced by the cut flowers exporters vis-a-viz Chinese import of plastic flowers.
