Odisha is losing a sizable amount of Central funds through the ASIDE (Assistance to States for Infrastructure Development of Exports) scheme as it has failed to asses correctly its annual export performance.
Sources in the Union Ministry of Commerce said the ASIDE funding to the State could have been much higher if the correct export figure had been furnished to the Centre.
“The export performance of the State needs to be properly calculated taking into account exports of the products produced in the State and exported from points situated outside it,” said a Commerce Ministry functionary while advising State Government officials to take up the export mapping exercise on a war footing to arrive at the correct export performance figure.
The export performance which has dropped from around Rs17,000 crore to Rs11,000 crore during the last couple of years due to a sharp fall in iron ore export from State, is much less than the actual figure, said the official.
The objective of the ASIDE scheme is to involve the States in the export effort by providing assistance to them for creating appropriate infrastructure for development and growth of exports.While interacting with officials of the Department of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) here on Friday, the Commerce Ministry functionary, who is also in-charge of finalising the Export Strategy Document for Odisha, underscored the need of stepping of efforts to expand the exporters’ base in the State by capacity building.
Odisha unaware of export details, loses ASIDE funds
Meanwhile, the MSMEs Department is understood to have formed a team of its officials to glean correct figures from all possible sources to compile accurate export performance of the State.
Setting up of an Inland Container Depot (ICD) also figured prominently in the interaction with the Commerce Ministry functionary, said sources, adding that the Odisha Small Industries Corporation (OSIC) is likely to be the nodal agency to develop and operate this export infrastructure which the State does not have. Exporters now are requisitioning containers from depots outside the State, said the sources.
Meanwhile, the Paradip Port, the only major port in the State, has also stepped up its efforts to develop the container berth there to help the State’s exporters.