The Prime Minister, Mr Narendra Modi, on Thursday launched the NIRYAT portal and inaugurated ‘Vanijya Bhawan’ in New Delhi. Union Ministers Mr Piyush Goyal, Mr Som Prakash and Mrs Anupriya Patel were among those present on the occasion, as per an official release.
Addressing the gathering, the Prime Minister said that the NIRYAT - National Import-Export for Yearly Analysis of Trade portal will help in breaking silos by providing real-time data to all stakeholders. “From this portal, important information related to more than 30 commodity groups exported to more than 200 countries of the world will be available. In the coming time, information related to district-wise exports will also be available on this. This will also strengthen the efforts to develop the districts as important centres of exports,” the Prime Minister said.
Increasing exports the key
He underlined the role of increasing exports in the transition of a country from developing to developed country. The Prime Minister said that in the last eight years, India has also been continuously increasing its exports and achieving export goals. Better policies to increase exports, easing of the process, and taking products to new markets have helped a lot. He said that today, every Ministry, every department of the government is giving priority to increasing exports with a ‘whole of government’ approach. Be it the Ministry of MSME or Ministry of External Affairs, Agriculture or Commerce, all are making common efforts for a common goal. “Exports from new areas are increasing. Even from many aspirational districts, exports have now increased manifold. The increase in exports of cotton and handloom products by 55 per cent shows how the work is being done at the grassroot level,” he pointed out.
The Prime Minister said that the government’s emphasis on local products through the ‘Vocal for Local’ campaign, ‘One district, one product’ scheme has also helped in increasing exports. Now many of our products are being exported for the first time to new countries of the world. “Our local is fast becoming global”, he said, citing examples like Sitabhog Mithai being exported to Bahrain, Fresh King Chilli of Nagaland to London, Fresh Burmese Grapes of Assam to Dubai, Tribal Mahua products from Chattisgarh to France, and Khumani of Kargil to Dubai.
Reiterating the steps taken recently, the Prime Minister said, “We are also helping and emphasising on GI tagging to connect our farmers, weavers and our traditional products with the export ecosystem.” He also referred to trade deals with UAE and Australia last year and informed that there has been a lot of progress with other countries as well. He praised the Indian diplomatic institutions abroad for working hard to convert a very challenging environment into opportunities for India. “For business, identifying new markets and manufacturing products after identifying their needs is very important for the progress of the country,” he said.
In conclusion, the Prime Minister requested every department to periodically review the portals and platforms that have been developed in recent times. “The goals with which we have developed these tools, how far they are being achieved and if there is a problem then efforts should be made for solving them.”
Source: Exim News Service: New Delhi, June 23