Taking note of slow pace of work on five industrial corridors-Delhi-Mumbai, Chennai-Bengaluru, Amritsar-Kolkata, Vizag-Chennai and Bengaluru-Mumbai Corridors, a Parliamentary Committee on Ministry of Commerce and Industry, expressed its displeasure at their slow pace of their development and urged the Department to expedite their construction to provide much needed thrust to the Indian industry.
The Committee also took note of the various schemes such as Transport/Freight Subsidy Scheme, package for special category States for J&K (now UTs of J&K and Ladakh), Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, refund of Central and Integrated GST to industrial units in North Eastern Region and Himalayan States, North East Industrial Development Scheme and expressed displeasure at slow pace of utilisation of funds and urged timely disbursal of incentives, subsidy and tax refunds to industrial units and adequate allocation of funds under the schemes in the ensuing financial year.
Appreciating the government to come out with a new Agriculture Export Policy aimed to double farmers' income by 2022 and boost agricultural exports by integrating farmers and agricultural products with the GVCs, the Committee recommended the department to ensure active participation of the State Governments in effective implementation of the policy in agriculture clusters for promoting exports in the year ahead. The Committee noted that the Scheme of Price Stabilisation Fund aimed at providing financial relief to small growers of tea, coffee, rubber, tobacco, etc. has discontinued since 2013 and in its place a new Scheme of Revenue Insurance Scheme for Plantation Crops (RISPC) has not been implemented.
The Committee has recommended to launch a new crop insurance scheme at the earliest to provide security to the plantation growers in terms of price stabilization and crop protection and thus contributing to the welfare of farmers in the plantation sector.
The Report has also expressed its deep concern on the substantial reduction of the budgetary allocation made to Agencies/Commodity Boards viz. Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA), Tea Board, Coffee Board, Rubber Board and Spices Board from the proposed outlay under the Medium Term Expenditure Framework. The curtailing of funds will, thus, impact the functioning of the schemes and programmes of the Agencies and Boards and the shortfall may lead to upsurge in liabilities in the coming years. It, therefore, recommended the Department to engage with Ministry of Finance for additional allocation at the supplementary grants stage for their optimal functioning.