What Did the Commerce & Industry Ministry Achieve This Week?

New Delhi, July 13 (NationPress) The Ministry of Commerce and Industry has wrapped up an eventful week with Union Minister Piyush Goyal traversing the nation from Srinagar in the north to Bengaluru in the south, chairing a series of meetings aimed at boosting exports and industrial initiatives.

During a significant meeting held in Mumbai, Goyal engaged with the Chairman of the State Bank of India along with senior officials from other major banks, ECGC Ltd., and departmental representatives to assess and identify opportunities related to export credit.

Leveraging ECGC’s insights from the enhanced cover scheme, further modifications have been proposed to ensure that adequate and cost-effective credit reaches a broader segment of MSME exporters. This initiative allows borrower accounts to be classified similarly to ‘AA’ rated accounts, thereby reducing the export credit costs for exporters.

Goyal emphasized that the ECGC should consider extending the scheme initially proposed for nine banks to all banks, aiming to enhance the export credit uptake for MSME exporters.

In Srinagar, the minister met with a delegation from the Kashmir Chamber of Commerce & Industry and the Kashmir Chapter of the MSME Development Forum. He also interacted with representatives from the Jammu & Kashmir Fruits and Vegetable Processing and Integrated Cold Chain Association.

Sending a clear signal to regional traders, Goyal assured that the Central Government will remain steadfast in protecting sensitive sectors and regional interests during negotiations for market access with international partners. “Traders need not worry. Every FTA we sign will prioritize the interests of Jammu and Kashmir and the nation as a whole,” he stated.

In Bengaluru, the minister toured two Aerospace Special Economic Zone units: Unimech Aerospace Manufacturing Limited and Safran Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) Aircraft Engines Private Limited, both situated in the Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board Aerospace SEZ in Devanahalli.

A review meeting was convened to tackle key challenges affecting significant infrastructure projects in Gujarat and Rajasthan through the Project Monitoring Group (PMG) mechanism. The Central Government expedited major infrastructure projects totaling over Rs 36,296 crore in these states during this meeting.

22 issues concerning 18 vital projects were addressed, with a focus on the Transmission System Strengthening Scheme aimed at facilitating power evacuation from solar energy zones in Rajasthan and Gujarat, estimated to require an investment of Rs 14,147 crore.