India to study free trade facts

The government is planning to evaluate the impact of trade liberalisation on the society in the post-World Trade Organisation era.

Even though India's exports have nearly doubled to $ 51.7 billion by March-end 2003, up from $26.3 billion in 1994-95, commerce ministry officials said, the government planned to study whether the benefits of trade liberalisation had percolated to the lowest strata of the society or it was limited to only a particular section.

Apart from this, sectoral analysis would also be carried out, which would help the country prepare its strategy for the ongoing trade talks under the Doha round.

The ministry, in collaboration with the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad) and the UK's Department for International Development (DFID), has launched a project "" "Strategies and Preparedness for Trade and Globalisation in India".

The initiative is aimed at understanding the development dimensions of key trade issues and to strengthen the country's human and institutional capacities.

According to an official release, India's share in the total world exports of goods and commercial services has increased from 0.61 per cent in 1995 to 0.86 per cent in 2001.

In the total world imports of goods and commercial services, the country's share has increased to 0.99 per cent from 0.78 per cent, during the same period.

Being a member of the WTO, India also avails of the most favoured nation (MFN) treatment for its exports to other members of the Geneva-based body, according to the release.

From January 1, 2005, under the multilateral trading rules, the textiles sector will be freed of the quota restrictions while a lower and zero-duty regime would be put in place for information technology products.