Kamal Nath moots import thrust policy

Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath, ignoring the increase in the country's trade deficit in the very first month of the current fiscal, said the government was working on a strategy for imports, which would provide a thrust to the domestic manufacturing sector.

"We have to boost the global economy through imports and exports. I have asked export promotion councils to work on a strategy for imports. An exporter should not always go to another country to sell, he should buy as well. I am keen on getting councils involved in trade promotion rather than dealing with export promotion alone," Nath told Business Standard in an interview today.

On account of a 51 per cent jump in imports, India's trade deficit more than doubled during April to $385 billion, compared with $1.29 billion during the corresponding period last year. Nath said the deficit was not a cause for concern as other economic indicators were strong.

"A higher deficit does not mean we are a weak economy. Even countries like the United States have had high trade deficit for years," he said.

The minister said in order to attract more foreign direct investment (FDI) into the country, the government was considering several rationalisation and simplification measures in the existing FDI policy.

"We have prepared a proposal for the Cabinet and it will be considered soon," he said. But, the minister indicated that the government was not in a hurry to introduce FDI in retailing.

"There is no time line for this. The issue has been placed in the public eye so that all view points are considered. We do not want to replace the existing small players in the retail sector."

Indo-US trade crosses $19 bn

Indo-US bilateral trade crossed $19 billion in 2004-05, logging nearly 20 per cent growth over the previous financial year, an official release said.

According to the latest data released by the Directorate-General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics, India's exports to the US in 2004-05 are estimated at $ 13.2 billion.