A State-level empowered committee has been constituted under the chairmanship of Chief Secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi for guiding and monitoring of the implementation of the Odisha Export Promotion Policy.
The first empowered committee meeting was held under the chairmanship of Padhi on Thursday. Reviewing the progress, the CS directed officials to work out specific strategy for promoting export in each category of products. Development Commissioner R Balakrishnan added that the department should have regular interactions with exporter agencies and facilitate the process as per their needs. ME&ME Principal Secretary laxmi Narayan Gupta outlined the issues for discussion.
It was decided that different export promotion councils on various products like handicraft, handloom, cashew, engineering goods, agricultural and food products would be set up in Bhubaneswar. The departments like Textile, Handloom & Handicraft, Industries, Agriculture, Fisheries & Animal Resource Development, Steel & Mines, Health & Family Welfare and Electronics & IT were advised set up export promotion cells in their departments.
The committee also discussed the issues relating to setting up of a Raptani Bhawan showcasing exportable products of the State in prominent cities of India and abroad, implementation of a new State assistance scheme for creation of export infrastructure and supply of raw materials to exporters through the OSIC.
The committee reviewed the progress of the export-related projects like common processing center for marine product at Balaramgadi, establishment of testing laboratory facilities by MPEDA and Export Inspection Council, development of seafood park at Deras, reefer container facility at Paradip port, waiver of entry tax on silk products, direct air connectivity to different export destinations and adoption of organic farming. The CS set timelines for completion of each phase of the projects.
Available data show that during the year 2015-16, nearly Rs 10,814 crore of metallurgical products were exported from Odisha followed by electronics and software products worth Rs 2,700 crore, marine products worth Rs 1967 crore and engineering chemical and allied products worth Rs 1,295 crore. Other products exported included the mineral, agricultural, handloom, handicraft, textile, pharmaceutical, gems and jewelry and service providers.
During this year, products worth Rs 17,346 crore were exported from the State. A target has been set to scale up the export performance to the tune of Rs 21,559 crore during 2016-17.
Revenue & Disaster Management Principal Secretary Dr Mona Sharma, Industries Principal Secretary Sanjeeb Chopra, Electronics & IT Principal Secretary Pradeep Kumar Jena, Tourism Principal Secretary GK Dhal, GA Special Secretary Ashok Meena, Fisheries & Animal Resource Development Secretary Bishnupada Sethi, Skill Development & Technical Education Secretary and Idco MD Sanjaya Singh along with members from the Utkal Chamber of Commerce and exporters’ associations participated in the discussions.