Bhubaneswar: The Centre has recognised Odisha as a ‘Champion State’ for recording the highest growth in exports during 2016-17.
This was announced during a review meeting of the Ministry of Commerce & Industry on Export performance of states and formulation of strategy, officials said. State MSME secretary LN Gupta attended the meeting. The Department of Commerce of Centre has tweeted the same.
According to officials, merchandise exports from Odisha have registered the highest growth rate of 114 per cent amongst all states.
Odisha’s exports have increased from Rs 19,082 crore in 2015-16 to Rs 40,872 crore in 2016-17. Between 2012-13 and 2016-17, in USD terms Odisha’s exports witnessed a positive growth of 17.60 per cent against a negative growth of 2.07 per cent in overall exports of the country.
During the same period, in rupee terms, a positive growth of 23.84 per cent was recorded by exports from Odisha against a positive growth of 3.18 per cent in overall exports of India.
Statistics reveal that the export turnover of the state was at Rs 563 crore in 2001-02. It rose by 15 times to Rs 8,917 crore in 2005-07. Since the year 2008-09, the value of exports from Odisha has been rising on a sustained basis. The export turnover, which was at Rs 15,411 crore in 2008-09, has now risen to a level of Rs 40,879 crore in 2016-17, registering an increase of 165 per cent in the last nine years. In the current year, the state’s merchandise export (excluding services) have already crossed Rs 22,000 crore by October, 2017, officials said.
The state’s major exports are aluminum, products of aluminum, iron ore, processed minerals, iron, steel, marine products, residual chemical and allied products, textiles and IT and ITES. Of late, engineering, handicrafts, tourism, silver filigree and rubber are emerging as new items of exports in the state, officials informed.
As per Revealed Competitive Advantage (RCA) done by the Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO), four category of export items have emerged as ‘items of prime importance’ for the state having competitive advantage vis-à-vis India and world exports. These are iron, mineral metals, chemicals and marine products.
As part of the new export strategy, Odisha will focus on exports of pharma, plastic, spices, cereals and organic farm items, sources said.
With commencement of exports from Multi Model Logistic Parks (MMLP) at Jharsuguda, Inland Container Depot (ICD), Balasore and Port-side Container Terminal (PSCT) at Paradip, the progress of which is being monitored by the state on regular basis, exports will get further boost, officials said.
To help exporters maintain standards and quality, both the Export Inspection Agency (EIA) and MPEDA will commence commercial operations of their laboratories in Bhubaneswar before March 2018, officials added. (PNN)
