Export of pulses banned

The Union government has extended the ban on export of pulses, the
Agriculture Minister, Mr Sharad Pawar, said.

The move followed the Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) on food,
headed by the Finance Minister, Mr Pranab Mukherjee, reviewing the
price situation in the country and deciding to
allow duty-free import of pulses until March 2012.

India is the world's biggest producer and consumer of pulses.
The government had in June 2006 banned exports of pulses, which had a
weight of 0.72 per
cent in the wholesale price index.

Food price index rose by 12.13 per cent till December 11 this year,
government data showed.
The government has also decided to extend the imports of duty-free
pulses "until further orders".
The annual pulses consumption is estimated at over 18 million tonnes,
while production in 2009-10 was at 14.6 million tonnes, leading to
imports.

Spices exports earn 15 pc more in value during April-November

Exports of spices during April-November 2010-11 increased by 6 per
cent in volume terms and 15 per cent in rupee value when compared to
the same period of 2009-10. In dollar terms, the rise was around 20
per cent, the Spices Board data showed.
And there was increased demand from abroad for chilli and turmeric in
November, helping the overall spices exports to maintain the good
momentum seen in the previous month.
In April-November, a total of 361,650 tonnes of spices and spice
products, valued at Rs 4,320.88 crore ($ 946.23 million), were
exported, as against 3,41,950 tonnes valued at Rs 3,770.10 crore ($
785.29 million) during the same period of 2009.

In 2009-10, a total of 5,02,750 tonnes of spices and its products,
valued at Rs 5,560.50 crore ($ 1,173.75 billion), were exported.

In the current financial year, exports of chilli, ginger, fennel and
garlic have shown an increase both in volume and value terms as
compared to April-November 2009. Exports of value-added products,
spice oils and oleoresin have also risen as compared to April-November
2009.

However, in the case of cardamom, turmeric, fenugreek and mint
products, the increase was in terms of value only. Pepper exports were
down by 17 per cent in volume for the eight-month period and only 4
per cent lower in value terms.
In April-November 2010, a total quantity of 11,500 tonnes of pepper,
valued at Rs 208.50 crore, was exported, as against 13,850 tonnes
valued at Rs 217.70 crore last year. The unit value of pepper has
increased from Rs 157.18 per kg in 2009-10 to Rs 181.30 per kg during
2010-11.

Chilli exports were up by 26 per cent in volume and 22 per cent in
value. During the period, a total quantity of 1,66,000 tonnes of
chilli, valued at Rs 1,020 crore, have been exported, as against
1,31,250 tonnes valued at Rs 835.03 crore during the same period of
2009. Turmeric exports rose to 500 tonnes in November when compared to
November 2009.

In April-November 2010, around 7,250 tonnes of ginger, valued at Rs
44.04 crore, was exported, as against 3,500 tonnes valued at Rs 27.13
crore last year. During the same period, exports of spice oils and
oleoresins also increased to 4,650 tonnes, valued at Rs 570.90 crore.

Govt clears export of 5 lakh tonnes sugar under OGL

The Union government has prepared the modalities for export of
5,00,000 tonnes of sugar by mills under open general licence (OGL) in
the current crop year that began in October
Accordingly, each mill will get to export 2.5 per cent of its annual
average production during the last three years. If a mill has not been
operational for the last three years, then its annual average
production of last two years or one year will be taken into account.
If the mill does not have capacity to fulfil its export obligation,
then it can sell its export release order (permission from the
government to export a certain quantity) to any other mill or to a
private trader.

The Food and Agriculture Minister, Mr Sharad Pawar, assured that his
department would soon work out the export modalities.

The government had earlier allowed the export of about 1.5 million
tonnes of sugar through the Advance Licence Scheme (ALS) and also the
imported sugar stocks that were stuck at ports.
Under ALS, mills have to fulfill their export obligation of about one
million tonnes of the sweetener by March 2011 against the duty-free
imports during 2004-2009 period.

Exports up 13.2% in July

Exports grew by 13.2 per cent to USD 16.24 billion in July compared to the same period last fiscal, posting growth for the ninth month in a row. Imports too jumped by 34.3 per cent to USD 29.17 billion in July compared to the same month last fiscal, according to the official data released on Wednesday. During April-July this fiscal, exports posted a growth rate of 30 per cent to USD 68.62 billion on year-on-year basis. Imports during the April-July period grew by 33.3 per cent to USD 112.2 billion. Oil imports in July grew by 4.4 per cent to USD 7.6 billion, while non-oil imports jumped by 49.6 per cent to USD 21.5 billion. The country's trade deficit widened to USD 12.93 billion in July compared to the year-ago period.

More sops for exporters on the cards as Govt mulls sectoral review by December

Exporters might look forward to yet another booster dose from the government after it concludes a sector-wise review by December, said commerce and industry minister Anand Sharma.

At an interaction with some of the chambers of commerce, he said the government would also implement measures to reduce procedural and transaction costs of exports by early October. Challenges remain on container transport under the railways, he said, and on port charges that come under the shipping ministry, which might take some time to address.

The sectoral review would be undertaken in November, with the report in December. This would be done to especially evaluate and analyse the performance of some ailing sectors like handicrafts, carpets, toys and readymade garments, which were given a series of incentives under the annual supplement of the Foreign Trade Policy 2009-2014.

The government had done a couple of similar reviews in 2009-10, too, which induced it to come out with incentives worth Rs 1,050 crore through the FTP announced on Monday, aimed mainly at labour-intensive sectors.

While Sharma sounded confident of achieving exports of $200 billion (Rs 9.34 lakh crore) during the year, he also expressed apprehension over sustaining the growth in the remaining months, saying there would be "bumpy rides". Merchandise exports from India grew by 48 per cent during April-September in 2008, after which it started plummeting due to the slowdown in demand in some significant markets such as the US, Germany, France and Japan, which account for almost 60 per cent of our exports.

The decline in exports was sharpest in May last year, when the fall inched towards 40 per cent year-on-year. However, things started taking a positive turn from October onwards. During the period between October 2009 and March 2010, exports posted a growth rate of 32 per cent, compared to the same period in 2008-09.