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Cargo vessel MV Lal Bahadur Shastri carrying 200 MT food grain sails through a 2,350 kms waterways from river Ganga on to river Brahmaputra via Bangladesh IBPR

Union Minister of Ports, Shipping & Waterways and AYUSH, Shri Sarbananda Sonowal flagged off an inland waterway vessel MV Lal Bahadur Shastri from Patna to Guwahati today. The vessel started its journey from Patna today and is carrying 200 Metric Tonnes of food grains headed for Pandu in Guwahati & will travel via Bangladesh to reach the destination by early March, 2022.

The minister also laid the foundation stone for construction of Kalughat intermodal terminal at Saran in Bihar on National Waterway - 1 (river Ganga).

This historic event was also attended by Union Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, Piyush Goyal (virtually); Union Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution and Environment, Forest & Climate Change, Ashwani Kumar Choubey; Union Minister of State for Ports, Shipping & Waterways, Shantanu Thakur; Deputy Chief Ministers of Bihar, Tarkishore Prasad and Renu Devi; Mangal Pandey, Minister of Health and Family Welfare,  Mr Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury, Minister of State, Ministry of Shipping, Government of People’s Republic of Bangladesh; Rajiv Pratap Rudy, MP (Lok Sabha); Sushil Kumar Modi, MP (Rajya Sabha); Ravi Shankar Prasad, MP (Lok Sabha) among other dignitaries & senior officials from the state government and Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI).

The vessel starts its sail on National Waterway-1 (river Ganga) through Bhagalpur, Manihari, Sahibganj, Farakka, Tribeni, Kolkata, Haldia, Hemnagar; Indo Bangladesh Protocol (IBP) route through Khulna, Narayanganj, Sirajganj, Chilmari and National Waterway-2 through Dhubri, and Jogighopa covering a distance of 2,350 km. The vessel will take about 25 days to cover the entire voyage and is expected to reach Pandu in Guwahati by early March.

This historic feat will usher a new era of growth for all the states of Northeast India. The waterways will cut through the landlocked access which has been crippling development in the region for long. The waterways not only remove this geographical hindrance on the road of progress in the region but also provides an economical, swift and convenient transportation for the businesses and people of the region.

In line with the “Act East” policy of the Prime Minister, the Ministry of Ports, Shipping & Waterways (MoPSW) has taken up several infrastructure projects on National Waterway-1, Indo-Bangladesh Protocol route, and NW2, through the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI). These steps will improve the connectivity with North Eastern Region (NER) through waterways. The Government has undertaken the ambitious Jal Marg Vikas Project (JMVP) with an investment of about Rs. 4600 crore for the capacity augmentation of NW-1 (river Ganga) for safe and sustainable movement of vessels upto 2000 tonnes.

Speaking on this landmark moment, Shri SarbanandaSonowal, said, “This is a historic moment for all of Northeast as we embark to reap the benefit of the most seamless cargo transportation through Brahmaputra. This is not just a journey from Patna to Pandu but it is a journey of unfulfilled desires & aspirations to reach out to a wider world via waterways. The opportunity for the people of Assam & Northeast is tremendous. Under the visionary leadership of Prime Minister, the Northeast region is no longer relegated but every effort is made to act & unlock the value that the Astalakshmi promises. We are confident that by restarting the cargo movement via waterways is going to play a pivotal role in energising India’s northeast as the engine of growth.”

IWAI aims at running regular scheduled services on these routes. The Protocol on Inland Water Transit and Trade (PIWTT) between India and Bangladesh allows mutually beneficial arrangements for the use of their waterways for the movement of goods between the two countries by vessels of both countries. National Waterway-1 (River Ganga) is connected to National Waterway-2 (River Brahmaputra) and National Waterway-16 (River Barak) through Indo-Bangladesh Protocol (IBP) routes. To improve the navigability, two stretches of IBP routes, i.e., Sirajganj-Daikhowa and Ashuganj-Zakiganj are also being developed at a cost of Rs. 305.84 crores on an 80:20 share basis (80% being borne by India and 20% by Bangladesh). The development of these stretches is expected to provide seamless navigation to NER via the IBP route. The contracts for dredging on the two stretches for providing and maintaining requisite depth for a period of seven years (from 2019 to 2026) are underway.

Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC), which, in the recent years, has adopted “zero tolerance” against the sale of spurious/non-Khadi products, has cancelled the “Khadi Certification” to its oldest Khadi Institution named Mumbai Khadi & Village Industries Association (MKVIA), which was running the prestigious “Khadi Emporium” at Metropolitan Insurance House, a heritage building, located at  D.N. Road in Mumbai since 1954.

The action came after KVIC found that the said Khadi Emporium at D.N. Road was selling non-Khadi products in the guise of genuine Khadi. During routine inspection, KVIC officials collected samples from the Emporium that were found to be non-Khadi products. KVIC issued a legal notice to MKVIA for flouting the norms of “Khadi Certificate” and “Khadi Mark Certificate” issued by the Commission. With cancellation of the registration, Khadi Emporium ceases to be a genuine Khadi Outlet and is no longer permitted to sell Khadi products from the Emporium. KVIC is also contemplating legal action against the MKVIA for criminal breach of trust and cheating public at large by misusing the credibility and popularity of brand Khadi.

KVIC had, in the year 1954, handed over the operation and management of Khadi Emporium to MKVIA, a registered Khadi Institution, on the strict condition that it would sell only “Genuine Khadi Products” from the emporium. However, in recent years, MKVIA had indulged in unfair trade practices by selling fake Khadi products and thus cheating people who were under the impression that this Emporium was being run by KVIC.

It is pertinent to mention that KVIC, in the last few years, has acted tough against the misuse of its brand name “Khadi India” and infringement into its trademark. So far KVIC has issued legal notices to over 1200 individuals and firms including retail brand Fabindia for misusing the brand name “Khadi” and selling non-Khadi products under the name of “Khadi”. KVIC has sought damages to the tune of Rs 500 crore from Fabindia which is pending before the Mumbai High Court. Last year, KVIC also forced online shopping portals – Amazon, Flipkart and Snapdeal – to take down 140 web links that were selling non-Khadi products as “Khadi”.

In several such cases, KVIC dragged the violators to the courts and secured orders restraining them from misusing the brand name “Khadi”. As a result, a number of violators tendered apology and undertook not to use brand name “Khadi” in future.

Drives being conducted under One District – One Product (ODOP) initiative across States to facilitate on-boarding on e-Commerce platforms

Special focus being placed on onboarding artisans and handicraftsmen, especially those manufacturing Geographical Indication (GI) goods and toys

Government has taken several initiatives to enhance collaboration between small business and e-commerce platforms.

 Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC), Department of Revenue has exempted sellers of specified handicraft goods made by craftsmen from obtaining compulsory registration under GST Act, thus enabling collaboration between small businesses and e-commerce platforms.

Department for Promotion of Industry & Internal Trade (DPIIT) has actively engaged with various large e-commerce platforms to onboard artisans and handicraftsmen, including those engaged in manufacture of Geographical Indication (GI) goods and toys. Further, under the One District – One Product (ODOP) initiative, drives have been conducted across various States, facilitating on-boarding of sellers of identified products on e-Commerce platforms to provide greater visibility for small businesses from rural sector.

Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSME) has taken multiple initiatives for enhancing participation of small business in e-commerce which include:

•          Procurement and Marketing Support (PMS) Scheme: Under this Scheme, the sub-component of “Adoption of e-Commerce by Micro Enterprises” has been introduced. This new component includes providing financial assistance for selling products or services by Micro Enterprises (up to 10 new products) through e-commerce portals.

•          Portals of National Small Industries Corporation (NSIC): NSIC is operating MSME Global Mart portal. This is a non-transactional B2B Portal which facilitates e-Marketing support to MSME's. The portal provides information of business, technology and finance and also exhibits the core competence of Indian SMEs.

•          E-commerce portal of Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC): KVIC has developed an online portal https://www.kviconline.gov.in  for selling Khadi  products added by Khadi Gramodyog Bhavan, New Delhi.

 Ministry of Tribal Affairs has launched an e-market place www.tribesindia.com portal through Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India Limited (TRIFED). It has forged tie ups with various leading e-Commerce platforms and is on-boarding tribal artisans with their products for online sales.

New Logistics division created under Department of Commerce for integrated development of the logistics sector

Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products (RoDTEP) scheme and Rebate of State and Central Levies and Taxes (RoSCTL) Scheme being implemented with effect from 01.01.2021

12 Champion Services Sectors have been identified for promoting and diversifying services exports by pursuing specific action plans

Districts as Export Hubs has been launched by identifying products with export potential in each district

Package announced in light of the COVID pandemic to support domestic industry

The Government has taken the following measures since 2014 to boost the India’s export:

1. A new Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) 2015-20 was launched on 1st April 2015. The policy, inter alia, rationalised the earlier export promotion schemes and introduced two new schemes, namely Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS) for improving export of goods   and ‘Services Exports from India Scheme (SEIS)’ for increasing exports of services. Duty credit scrips issued under these schemes were made fully transferable.
2. The mid-term review (2017) of the Foreign Trade Policy (2015-20) was carried out and corrective measures were undertaken.
3. Foreign Trade Policy (2015-20) extended by one year i.e. upto 31-3-2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic situation.
4. A new Logistics Division was created in the Department of Commerce for integrated development of the logistics sector.
5. Interest Equalization Scheme on pre and post shipment rupee export credit was introduced from 1.4.2015 to provide cheaper credit to exporters.
6. The Government started implementing a NiryatBandhu Scheme with an objective to reach out to the new and potential exporters including exporters from Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) and mentor them through orientation programmes, counselling sessions, individual facilitation, etc., on various aspects of foreign trade for enabling them to get into international trade and boost exports from India.
7. Assistance provided through several schemes to promote exports, namely, Trade Infrastructure for Export Scheme (TIES) and Market Access Initiatives (MAI) Scheme.
8. A comprehensive “Agriculture Export Policy” was launched on 6th December, 2018 to provide an impetus to agricultural exports.
9. A Central Sector Scheme, ‘Transport and Marketing Assistance for Specified Agriculture Products’ was launched for providing assistance for the international component of freight to mitigate the freight disadvantage for the export of agriculture products.
10. Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products (RoDTEP) scheme and Rebate of State and Central Levies and Taxes (RoSCTL) Scheme have been implemented with effect from 01.01.2021.
11. Common Digital Platform for Certificate of Origin has been launched to facilitate trade and increase Free Trade Agreement (FTA) utilization by exporters.
12. 12 Champion Services Sectors have been identified for promoting and diversifying services exports by pursuing specific action plans.
13. Districts as Export Hubs has been launched by identifying products with export potential in each district, addressing bottlenecks for exporting these products and supporting local exporters/manufacturers to generate employment in the district.
14. Active role of Indian missions abroad towards promoting India’s trade, tourism, technology and investment goals has been enhanced.
15. Package has been announced in light of the COVID pandemic to support domestic industry through various banking and financial sector relief measures, especially for MSMEs, which constitute a major share in exports.

Government takes several steps for promoting the export of handicrafts

The Office of Development Commissioner (Handicrafts) is implementing several schemes for the welfare and promotion of handicrafts artisans. The registered artisans (28.38 lakh artisans have been registered so far under PAHCHAN initiative) can avail the benefits of these schemes (under National Handicraft Development Programme (NHDP) and Comprehensive Handicrafts Cluster Development Scheme (CHCDS)) by participating in different marketing events, skill up gradation, training, design workshops etc. The wage compensation as well as TA/ DA are also provided to the artisans for participation in the events. In addition, interest subsidy @ 6% on the loan amount maximum to Rs.1.00 lakh over a period of 3 years and margin money @ 20% of the loan amount maximum to Rs.20,000/- per artisan are also provided. Under infrastructure scheme various museums, emporia, raw material banks, urban haats, are also set up. The export of handicrafts products including handmade carpets has shown steady positive growth in last three years. The details of handicrafts export during last 2 years are given in Annexure-I. The Government has taken several steps in promoting the export of handicrafts. In addition to several standard International Marketing events, the virtual marketing events have been also organized to provide international marketing platform to the artisans. Domestic marketing events like Gandhi Shilp Bazaar, Craft Bazaar and Exhibitions are organized to provide domestic marketing platform to the artisans. The details of domestic and international marketing events organised during last 3 years is given in Annexure-II. Handicrafts Technical Training Programmes and Design Development Workshops were conducted, 65 Tool kits distributed and a Common Facility Centre has been established to support Nirmal painting artisans.

Annexure-I

I. Details of Marketing Events organised during 2018-19 to FY 2020-21

Annexure-II

Details of export of handicrafts (including handmade carpet) during last 2 years

(Amount in Cr)

This information was given by the Minister of state for Textiles Smt. Darshana Jardosh in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha