Inter-ministerial talks on to finalise ecommerce policy: Govt to Parliament

“Valuable proposals have been received from many stakeholders. Inter-ministerial consultations are being held to finalize the National E-Commerce Policy,” he said in a written response to Rajya Sabha.

QUALITY CONTROL ORDER
Since the announcement of the Aatma Nirbhar Bharat campaign, the central government through various ministries and departments have announced 156 products to be required to be certified BIS through the issuance of the Quality Control Order, the National Assembly has announced on Friday. According to these QCOs, the products specified therein must conform to the requirements of the relevant Indian Standards and bear the Standard Mark under license from the Bureau of Indian Standards, Parkash told Rajya Sabha in a written statement. answer sheet.

FARM EXPORT
Trade and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal told Rajya Sabha that grain prices are also increasing. “Higher global prices create opportunities for food exports to benefit farmers,” he said in a written response, adding that the FAO Food Price Index for cereals has risen from 99.3 in April 2020 to 129.4 in June 2021. India’s Agriculture exports in 2020-21 registered a 17.37% increase compared to exports during 2019-20. Goyal said a “special increase” was recorded in exports of commodities such as wheat (775.03%), non-Basmati rice (136.3%), vegetable oils (254.94%), other cereals (238.57%), cooking oil (90.31%) and cotton (79.43%).

COVID COMPANY CLOSED
Minister of Trade and Industry Som Parkash told Rajya Sabha that the number of closed companies registered with the MCA for the period from April 1, 2020 to June 30, 2021 was 17,228 of which the number of companies closed in Tamil Nadu was 1899.

“However, this includes data on companies that closed before Covid started, and the cause of the closure may not necessarily be the closure of industrial activity,” he said when asked for details. on the number of industries that have closed due to Covid-19 shutdown in the country. , especially in Tamil Nadu.

In a written reply, he said, according to information received from the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA), the opening and closing of companies registered with the MCA, but the MCA did not know the cause. closed in any way. Applications related to the 2020-21 FY period will start from September 2021 onwards.

BEGIN
The government said that as of June 2, 2021, SIDBI has committed Rs 5,409.45 crore to 71 SEBI-registered Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs). These funds have a target corporate fund of Rs 36,790 crore, Rs 1,541.29 has been withdrawn from the Fund’s Fund and Rs 5,811 crore has been invested in 443 startups.

As of June 2021, 10,154 startups have registered on the Government’s Electronic Marketplace (GeM) portal and 76,564 orders have been placed for startups. The value of orders served by startups has reached around Rs 3,481 crore, 510 patent backers and 392 trademark supporters have been empowered, as of March 2021, according to the plan. The plan is to provide free services to start-ups, State minister for commerce and industry Som Parkash told Rajya Sabha.

As of July 12, 2021, for declarations received from entities, provided on Form 2, information regarding receipt of Form 2 declarations has been mailed to 4,372 applications. In addition, the Department for the Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) recognizes start-ups as exempt from tax under Section 56 of the Income Tax Act when such a startup receives any consideration for developing shares in excess of the Fair Market Value of those shares. The start-up company must submit a duly signed declaration on Form 2 to the DPI.

The number of startups recognized by DPIIT has increased in recent years, he said, adding that as of July 15, 11,272 startups have been recognized from 14,778 in 2020. .

In a separate reply, on 15 July 2021, two incubators were selected by the Expert Advisory Committee of the Indian Startup Seed Fund Program to provide financial support of Rs 8 crore . DPIIT created SISFS with a budget of Rs 945 Crore to provide financial support to startups in terms of proof of concept, prototype development, product testing, market penetration and commercialization

SEZ

The Government has informed Parliament that there are currently no provisions to grant additional financial incentives to Special Economic Zones (SEZs).

“However, there is currently no provision to grant additional financial incentives,” Industry and Trade Minister Piyush Goyal said in a written response to Rajya Sabha.

He said a total of 336 units have left the SEZ in the past three years.

“The reasons for such a rotation include the change of international market conditions, the slowdown in orders, the consolidation of units and the Covid-19 pandemic, etc.,” he said. “.

Noting that SEZs established under SEZ law have “met largely or generally their objectives,” Goyal said: “SEZs have reached new heights in terms of performance in exports, investments, and investments. private and employment”.

Exports of Rs 22,840 in 2005-06 increased to Rs 7.59 lakh crore in FY21, investment increased to Rs 6.17 lakh crore (cumulative basis) in 2020-21 from Rs 4,035.51 in fiscal year 2006 increased and employment provision increased to 1,34,704 persons in 2005-06 increased to 23,58,136 persons (cumulative basis) in fiscal year 21.

IMPORTS OF CHINA
The government has informed Congress that imports from Hong Kong have been on a downward trend for the past two years and that India’s imports from China have also been falling for the past four years.

“Therefore, our imports from China and Hong Kong in the period 2019-20 and 2020-21, compared to the period 2018-19 will decrease combined,” said Trade and Industry Minister Som Parkash. with the Senate.

China’s exports to India are largely based on commodities needed to meet the needs of rapidly expanding sectors such as telecommunications and electricity in India. Several imported items such as Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) and drug formulations, which are sold at very competitive prices, provide the Indian Pharmaceutical industry with cheaper raw materials for their drug formulations, then also exported in large quantities. On the other hand, India’s exports to China are characterized by primary products, raw materials and intermediate products mainly iron ore, copper, minerals, cotton, seafood and spices, Mr. speak.