Karnataka's exports grow 48% in FY05

The Export Credit Guarantee Corporation of India (ECGC), since its inception in 1957 has collected a premium of Rs 4,113 crore from exporters, who took guarantee with it for the goods they exported. As against this, it paid claims to the tune of Rs 4,040 crore.

Initiating process for recovery from importers who failed to meet their obligations, ECGC recovered Rs 610 crore, bringing down net claims to Rs 3,430 crore, ECGC deputy general manager and regional manager C Thomas Mathew told the Business Standard, here on Wednesday.

Tentative figures show a profit of Rs 89 crore for the year 2004-05 and a dividend payment at 17.5 per cent amounting to Rs 18 crore to the Government of India. While the guarantee premium it had received was Rs 515.88 crore, claims settled were of the order of Rs 350.74 crore, after tax.

The premium collected in 2004-05 was higher than the previous year, when it was Rs 302.47 crore. However, claims settled exceeded by about Rs 37 crore (Rs 387.62 crore).

Mathew, who was in Mysore to attend an export-import seminar organised by the Mysore Chamber of Commerce & Industry (MCCI), said the Iraq war had cost ECGC Rs 550 crore. "The amount is gone for ever; nothing is coming back," he said.

"Our premium (for insurance coverage for goods exported from India) is the least compared to 53 organisations abroad," he claimed.

Though Karnataka had set its vision at 15 per cent from seven per cent in the country's exports by 2007, Visvesvaraya Industrial Trade Centre Managing Director B R Umakant said the State had already reached 14.55 per cent of the country's total exports last year alone. "This was possible because of several innovative export promotion strategies," he said in his keynote address.

"Karnataka's total exports of software, biotech and merchandise recorded a provisional figure of Rs 61,800 crore during 2004-05 as against Rs 41,670 crore during 2003-04, thereby registering a growth of 48 per cent."

Petroleum products, jewellery, readymade garments, iron ore and minerals, plastics, engineering, agro products and silks also contributed for the export growth.

Exports from Mysore stood at Rs 675 crore, of which software accounted for Rs 250 crore and the rest of major share coming from merchandise. Mysore becoming counter-magnet to Bangalore and foreseeable migration of a large number of industries from the State capital, the city had good scope for boosting its figures to Rs 1,000 crore.

Inaugurating the seminar MCCI President H N Ramathirtha said three Ps "" product, product promotion and place of export "" are the keywords in exports, which has become highly competitive today. ECGC should cover political risk also, along with business risk, he said.

Mysore-based SBI Commercial Branch AGM Somayaji said the Bank had done Rs 300 crore export business last year and issued gold cards for nine exporters and international gold cards for 40 traders for hassle free exports.