ECGC Vizag eyes 70% growth in export cover biz

Export Credit Guarantee Corporation of India Limited (ECGC), Visakhapatnam zone, is targeting to provide insurance cover to about Rs 300 crore worth of export products under the Export Credit Guarantee Scheme.

Speaking to Business Standard, DVS Sai Ramam, branch manager, ECGC, said, "We registered around 185 per cent growth in the export credit guarantee cover business in 2004-05. In the current fiscal, we are aiming at achieving a growth of about 70 per cent."

ECGC Vizag zone that comprises four coastal districts from Srikakulam to East Godavari covered Rs 61 crore worth of exports under the credit guarantee scheme in 2003-04, which was increased to Rs 175 crore in 2004-05. "Our target for this fiscal is to cover about Rs 300 crore worth of exports in this region," he added.

ECGC Vizag zone collected Rs 61 lakh first premium in 2004-05 as compared to Rs 20 lakh premium collected in the previous year, reflecting a growth of more than 200 per cent. "In the current fiscal, we plan to collect a first premium of Rs 75 lakh," Ramam said.

"Under the bank guarantee scheme, ECGC Vizag zone collected Rs 204 lakh as premium in 2004-05. This fiscal, our target is to collect Rs 290 crore under the scheme," he added.

Ramam said that most of the ECGC Vizag zone's exports insurance cover business comes from seafood exports.

"Of the total business, around 90 per cent comes from seafood exports while the remaining 10 per cent is generated from export of granite and engineering equipment. In 2004-05, exports from Visakhapatnam Steel Plant and Synergies Dooray declined significantly. If exports from these industries had gone well, our business could have increase further," he said. In 2004-05, ECGC Vizag paid Rs 3.74 crore towards export claims as compared to Rs 1.99 crore during the previous fiscal, he added.

ECGC has been offering new exports insurance products such as buyer exposure policy, multi-buyer exposure policy, consignment exports (stockholding agents) policy, consignment exports (global entity) policy, software projects policy and IT-enabled services policy since last year.

Ramam said that some banks that are ECGC's corporate agents are also selling its products in Visakhapatnam. "Because of these new exports insurance products, we are expecting good business this fiscal," he said.

"Once projects like the apparel park, Pharma City, ceramic park and the special economic zone materialise, our exports insurance business will increase manifold," Ramam added.