18.03.2015 - Ministry of Commerce and Industry
Transcription
18.03.2015 - Ministry of Commerce and Industry
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMERCE & INDUSTRY (DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE) RAJYA SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 215 TO BE ANSWERED ON 18TH MARCH, 2015 EXPANSION IN IMPORT BASKET vis-a-vis INCREASE IN EXPORTS 215. DR. K.V.P. RAMACHANDRA RAO: Will the Minister of COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY be pleased to state: a) whether it is a fact that while import basket of India has expanded but there is no corresponding increase in exports; b) if so, what are the reasons that exports have not increased; and c) what are the sectors that have fared badly in exports? ANSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) (SMT. NIRMALA SITHARAMAN) a) t o c): A Statement is laid on the Table of the House. *********************** STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (c) OF RAJYA SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 215 FOR ANSWER ON 18TH MARCH 2015 REGARDING “EXPANSION IN IMPORT BASKET vis-à-vis INCREASE IN EXPORTS” (a) During current year, there has been a marginal increase in India’s exports (0.88%) and imports (0.70%) during 2014-15 (Apr-Feb), as compared to 2013-14 (Apr-Feb), as detailed below. The sector/commodity wise details of Exports and Imports (as per Quick Estimates) for the current year 2014-15 (April-Feb) are at Annex- 1 and Annex- 2 respectively. (US$ Billion) Total Merchandise Exports 2013-14 (April-Feb.) 284.07 2014-15 (April-Feb.) (QE) 286.58 Percentage Change 0.88 Total Merchandise Imports 408.92 411.80 0.70 Source: DGCI&S (b) (QE): As per Quick Estimates The main reasons for decline in Exports are as under: (i) There is a fall in global demand due to slowing down of World Trade. World Trade Organization (WTO) in its Press Release dated, 26th September, 2014, has reduced the forecast for World Trade growth in 2014 to 3.1% (down from 4.7% in April, 2014) and in 2015 (down from 5.3% to 4.0%). (ii) EU Countries that account for nearly 16% of India's exports, are facing problems of stagnation and deflation. The appreciation of the rupee against the euro has adversely impacted India's exports to EU countries. (iii) The demand in certain other important markets like ASEAN, China and Japan has also fallen. (iv) As a consequence of fall in prices of crude oil, the exports of Petroleum Crude and Products, that contribute around 19 percent of India's exports, have also gone down, even though the quantity of exports of these items has increased approximately by 7.33%. (v) As a result of muted global demand, the value of exports of Agricultural commodities, accounting for about 9.6 % of India's exports, has also decreased. (c) The main commodities/sectors that have registered a decline in exports during 2014-15 (April-Feb.) as compared to corresponding period last year, are - Petroleum Products, Gems and Jewellery, cotton yarn/fabrics/made-ups and handloom products, Electronic goods, Plastic and linoleum, Spices, Fruits and Vegetables, handicrafts excluding handmade carpets, Oil meals, Other cereals, Iron Ore, Tobacco, Tea , Iron Ore , Jute Mfg including Floor Covering. ******************* QUICK ESTIMATES FOR SELECTED MAJOR COMMODITIES Annex 1 TRADE: EXPORT Sl. No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Commodities 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Engineering Goods Petroleum Products Gems & Jewellery RMG of all Textiles Drugs & Pharmaceuticals Organic & Inorganic Chemicals Cotton Yarn/Fabs./made-ups, Handloom Products etc. Rice Electronic Goods Leather & leather products Plastic & Linoleum Marine Products Meat, dairy & poultry products 14 Man-made Yarn/Fabs./made-ups etc. (Values in Million USD) Apr'13-Feb'14 57648.37 57335.97 37619.49 13463.50 13462.72 11098.35 Apr'14- Feb 15 66934.87 53739.04 37430.64 15260.90 13886.07 11621.17 10064.97 7076.37 7170.57 5078.84 5572.06 4592.42 4773.01 9822.56 7205.40 5843.07 5661.16 5340.79 5135.78 4942.06 4689.88 4838.97 % change Apr'14- Feb 15 16.11 -6.27 -0.50 13.35 3.14 4.71 -2.41 1.82 -18.51 11.47 -4.15 11.83 3.54 3.18 0.63 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 Mica, Coal & Other Ores, Minerals including processed minerals Spices Fruits & Vegetables Oil seeds Ceramic products & glassware Carpet 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 Handicrafts excl. hand made carpet Oil Meals Cereal preparations & miscellaneous processed items Other cereals Tobacco Cashew Coffee Tea Iron Ore 30 31 32 Jute Mfg. including Floor Covering Sub-Total GRAND TOTAL Note: The figures for Feb'15 and Apr'14 to Feb'15 are provisional and subject to change 3567.77 2261.93 1958.23 1166.42 1165.20 1077.32 3590.29 2230.71 1820.70 1657.06 1502.12 1303.92 1317.90 2560.04 1271.01 1211.79 1040.84 1094.13 899.18 770.68 693.53 736.42 1392.32 1148.88 845.24 842.63 835.24 697.43 619.91 502.96 348.40 261696.83 284074.69 313.42 268055.79 286582.71 -1.38 -7.02 42.06 28.92 21.03 -3.56 -52.67 10.38 -22.75 -6.29 8.38 0.56 -15.82 -63.88 -10.04 2.43 0.88 QUICK ESTIMATES FOR SELECTED MAJOR COMMODITIES Annex -2 TRADE: Import Sl. No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 (Values in Million USD) % change Commodities Cotton Raw & Waste Vegetable Oil Pulses Fruits & vegetables Pulp and Waste paper Textile yarn Fabric, made-up articles Fertilisers, Crude & manufactured Sulphur & Unroasted Iron Pyrts Metaliferrous ores & other minerals Coal, Coke & Briquettes, etc. Petroleum, Crude & products Wood & Wood products Leather & leather products Organic & Inorganic Chemicals Dyeing/tanning/colouring mtrls. Artificial resins, plastic materials, etc. Chemical material & products Newsprint Pearls, precious & Semi-precious stones Iron & Steel Non-ferrous metals Machine tools Machinery, electrical & non-electrical Transport equipment Project goods Professional instrument, Optical goods, etc. Electronic goods Medcnl. & Pharmaceutical products Gold Silver Sub-Total GRAND TOTAL Apr'13-Feb'14 370.19 6592.22 1713.72 1266.78 702.65 1396.02 6088.34 159.84 7878.80 14828.17 149103.21 4654.94 755.52 16000.53 2198.90 9522.75 4469.95 824.43 21837.42 11623.85 8120.22 2814.75 24884.87 17500.92 4157.77 Apr'14- Feb 15 484.27 8937.45 2419.17 1505.63 868.50 1559.52 6806.06 262.34 8541.45 15967.66 130848.36 5084.75 929.90 17314.48 2275.45 11176.80 5010.18 776.82 20614.28 14905.78 9900.98 2893.63 25900.47 15118.69 3346.88 3236.06 29611.05 4783.28 26133.97 4348.88 3368.54 34091.67 4980.94 29341.90 3962.09 3.93 13.14 3.97 10.93 -9.76 408919.22 411803.65 0.70 Note: The figures for Feb'15 and Apr'14 to Feb'15 are provisional and subject to change ********* Apr'14- Feb 15 23.56 26.24 29.16 15.86 19.10 10.48 10.55 39.07 7.76 7.14 -13.95 8.45 18.75 7.59 3.36 14.80 10.78 -6.13 -5.93 22.02 17.99 2.73 3.92 -15.76 -24.23 GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMERCE & INDUSTRY (DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE) RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2241 TO BE ANSWERED ON 18TH MARCH, 2015 UNUSED LAND ACQUIRED FOR SEZs 2241. SHRI KIRANMAY NANDA: Will the Minister of COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY be pleased to state: a) whether it is a fact that for Special Economic Zones (SEZs) a total of 39,245 hectares of land was acquired, whereas only 5,402 hectares of land is being used so far by various States under SEZ programme; b) if so, the State-wise list of land used and unused; c) the steps Government wishes to take for unused land under SEZs; and d) whether Government has any plans to return the unused land under SEZs to respective farmers? ANSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) (SMT. NIRMALA SITHARAMAN) (a) to (d): Land is a State subject. Land for Special Economic Zones (SEZs) is made available by the State Governments as per their respective policy and procedures. State Governments have been advised that in case of land acquisition for SEZs, first priority should be for acquisition of waste and barren land and if necessary single crop agricultural land could be acquired for the SEZs. If perforce a portion of double cropped agricultural land has to be acquired to meet the minimum area requirements, especially for multi-product SEZs, the same should not exceed 10% of the total land required for the SEZ. The Board of Approval for SEZs only considers those proposals, which have been duly recommended by the State Government. Further, the State Governments have been informed on 15th June, 2007 that the Board of Approval will not approve any SEZs where the State Governments have carried out or propose to carry out compulsory acquisition of land for such SEZs after 5th April, 2007. A Statement showing the State/UT-wise, total notified land area, area utilized and lying vacant in Processing Area of 365 notified SEZs is at Annexure. The SEZ developers are encouraged to operationalize their respective SEZs at the earliest. Any denotification of a SEZ is carried out only after the concerned State Government has given its ‘No Objection’ for the same. ***** Annexure States/UT-wise area of notified Special Economic Zones (In hectares) Sl. No. States/UT Total Area Notified Total Area Utilized (Upto 13.03.2015) Area lying Vacant in Processing Area 11187.06 4493.96 2213.45 1 Andhra Pradesh 2 Chandigarh 58.46 23.62 34.84 3 Chhattisgarh 101.28 22.04 79.24 4 Goa 249.48 0 249.48 5 Gujarat 12382.83 6818.58 4795.29 6 Haryana 415.49 36.57 293.69 7 Jharkhand 16.42 0 16.42 8 Karnataka 2302.74 841.83 1039.12 9 Kerala 971.99 390.38 455.99 10 Madhya Pradesh 1551.13 209.93 726.96 11 Maharashtra 6579.70 1754.51 3123.52 12 Manipur 10.85 0 10.85 13 Nagaland 340 0 340 14 Odisha 491.08 300.06 191.01 15 Punjab 46.12 8.39 30.92 16 Rajasthan 773.30 136.78 636.51 17 Tamil Nadu 5266.00 2222.85 2795.01 18 Telangana 2048.96 1957.22 469.51 19 Uttar Pradesh 753.92 219.20 476.77 20 West Bengal 235.84 190.71 45.13 45782.64 19626.63 18023.71 TOTAL ************** GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMERCE & INDUSTRY (DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE) RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2246 TO BE ANSWERED ON 18TH MARCH, 2015 CANCELLATION OF LICENCES OF SEZs 2246. SHRI D. RAJA: SHRI M.P. ACHUTHAN: Will the Minister of COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY be pleased to state: a) whether it is a fact that the licences of a number of Special Economic Zones (SEZs) have been cancelled; b) if so, the total number of licences approved so far, out of which how many are in operation and how many are cancelled, since when and owned by whom; and c) what are the reasons for cancelling the licences and what will happen to the land acquired for setting up SEZs in each case? ANSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) (SMT. NIRMALA SITHARAMAN) (a) to (c): In addition to Seven Central Government Special Economic Zones (SEZs) and 11 State/Private Sector SEZs set-up prior to the enactment of the SEZs Act, 2005, approval has been accorded to 436 proposals for setting up of SEZs, out of which 347 SEZs have been notified as on date. Presently, a total of 199 SEZs are exporting. As on 28th February, 2015, 37 SEZs have been de-notified. Reasons given by developers for seeking de-notification include economic meltdown, poor market response, non-availability of skilled labour force, lack of demand for space, changes in fiscal concessions regime for Special Economic Zones (SEZs) etc. ***** GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMERCE & INDUSTRY (DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE) RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2249 TO BE ANSWERED ON 18TH MARCH, 2015 BIASED IMPORT POLICY OF SOME COUNTRIES TOWARDS INDIAN EXPORTERS 2249. SHRIMATI JAYA BACHCHAN: Will the Minister of COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY be pleased to state: a) whether Government has taken note of the biased import policy of other countries towards Indian exporters; b) if so, the details of such countries; c) whether Government has approached the World Trade Organisation (WTO) or any other forum against these countries, if so, the details thereof; and d) whether Government has taken any unilateral action against imports from these countries, if so, the details thereof? ANSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) (SMT. NIRMALA SITHARAMAN) (a) to (d) Government monitors the measures/actions being taken by countries including the WTO member countries which Government considers as inconsistent with the existing agreement or otherwise, and take up the matter in the appropriate forum in case the measure impacts India’s exports. India has taken up such issues either at the bilateral level or multilateral level (under WTO Committee meetings or the WTO Dispute Settlement System). In the recent past, India had taken up such matters with the importing countries and had been successful in such matters to a large extent. A few of them are:(i) Successful negotiation leading to replacement of the inconsistent EU Regulation 1383/2003 by EU Regulation 608/2013 on the issue related to seizure of Indian drugs in transit. (ii) Result oriented outcome in trade remedial actions such as the withdrawal of safeguard duty by Turkey on cotton yarn, safeguard duty by Egypt on cotton fabric and cotton yarn etc. Amongst the major success in recent times, one of them of significant interest is the WTO ruling in India’s favour is related to a WTO Dispute filed by India against the exorbitant inconsistent Countervailing Duty (CVD) measures imposed by the United States on certain steel products. The Government has also initiated and taken measures under Trade remedies discipline on account of unfair trade, if any, by the exporting country, within the ambit of WTO agreement. ********* GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMERCE & INDUSTRY (DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE) RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2250 TO BE ANSWERED ON 18TH MARCH, 2015 BENEFIT TO RURAL AND AGRO INDUSTRIES FROM SEZs 2250. SHRI P. BHATTACHARYA: Will the Minister of COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY be pleased to state: a) whether Government has ascertained the number of rural and agro industries being benefited from Special Economic Zones (SEZs); b) if so, the details and the outcome thereof; c) whether such industries in the SEZs have been able to generate adequate amount of revenue for Government; and d) if so, the details thereof indicating the percentage of total revenue generated by the SEZs from such industries? ANSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) (SMT. NIRMALA SITHARAMAN) (a) & (b): Since Special Economic Zones (SEZs) Act, 2005 and Rules, 2006 were notified in June, 2005 and February, 2006 respectively, formal approvals have been granted for setting up of 9 SEZs for Agro and Food Processing sector, out of which, 8 SEZs have been notified. Presently 4 SEZs are exporting. (c) & (d): The physical exports from Agro and Food Processing SEZs as on 31st December, 2014 i.e. in the first three quarters of the current financial year 2014-15 have been to the tune of Rs.676.75 crore having the share of 0.19% to the total physical exports from SEZs. ***** GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMERCE & INDUSTRY (DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE) RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2254 TO BE ANSWERED ON 18TH MARCH, 2015 INCENTIVES FOR PROMOTION OF EXPORTS 2254. SHRI PARIMAL NATHWANI: Will the Minister of COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY be pleased to state: the incentives by Government for promotion of exports; whether there are any tax rebate and/or concessions for increasing exports by the firms; if so, the details thereof; the value of rebate provided during the last three years along with the role of the said rebate in increasing the exports; and e) the details of the monitoring system in place to ensure proper utilization of the said rebate? a) b) c) d) ANSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) (SMT. NIRMALA SITHARAMAN) (a), (b)&(c): (i) Exports are supported through various schemes, under Foreign Trade Policy (FTP), e.g. Vishesh Krishi and Gram Udyog Yojana, Focus Market Scheme, Market Linked Focus Product Scheme, Focus Product Scheme, Served from India Scheme. Exporters can also avail duty free import of capital goods under Export Promotion Capital Goods (EPCG) scheme and raw materials under Advance Authorisation Scheme. (ii) As per the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) Act and the rules made thereunder, SEZ Units and developers are eligible for customs, central excise and service tax exemption in procuring or importing goods and services for carrying out authorised operations. (iii) Under Export Oriented Units Scheme also, the units are eligible for customs, central excise and service tax exemption on procurement of raw materials for manufacture of finished goods meant for exports, as also dutyfree procurement of capital goods. (iv) Duty Drawback is provided to exporters to rebate the duties and taxes suffered on input/input services used in manufacture of exported goods. The duty and taxes rebated are Customs Duty, Central Excise Duty and Service Tax. Duty Drawback is provided either on the basis of All Industry Rate (AIR) which is an average rate or on the basis of Brand Rate (BR) based on actual incidence of duty. (d) (i) The details of incentive scrips issued under Foreign Trade Policy are as under: S. Financial No. Year Incentive scrips issued under Foreign Trade Policy Vishesh Krishi and Gram Udyog Yojana (Duty Credit Scrips issued in Rs. Crore) Focus Product Scheme including Market Linked Focus Product Scheme (Duty Credit Scrips issued in Rs. Crore) Focus Market Scheme (Duty Credit Scrips issued in Rs. Crore) Served from India Scheme (Duty Credit Scrips issued in Rs. Crore) Total (in Rs. Crore) Total 1. 2011-12 2486 3817 1064 1243 8610 2. 2012-13 2849 5319 1693 2004 11865 3. 2013-14 2748 8742 2723 1424 15637 (ii) The details of tax foregone (customs duty and central excise duty, including rebate) under SEZ scheme are as under: S. No. 1. 2. 3. Financial Year 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 Duty foregone under SEZ scheme(in Rs. Crore) Customs Excise Total 4560 3593 8153 4490 4873 9363 6198 4242 10440 (iii) The details of Duty Drawback (AIR and Brand Rate) disbursed in last 3 years are as under: S. No. Financial Year Duty Drawback Disbursed (in Rs. Crore) 1. 2011-12 12331 2. 2012-13 17422 3. 2013-14 21799 The benefits provided under various schemes have facilitated the exports from India and made them more competitive. The export performance during last three years is as under: Financial Year Exports(value in US$ Billions) 2011-12 306.0 2012-13 300.4 2013-14 314.4 (e) The details of monitoring system in place to ensure proper utilization of the said rebate/incentive are as under:(i) (ii) (iii) (iv) Drawback and scrips under FTP are subject to realization of export proceeds, which is monitored. Drawback under Brand Rate is fixed after detailed verification of actual duty incidence. More than 95% of duty under All Industry Rate is disbursed through electronic mode. Indian Customs EDI Systems (ICES) has adequate checks and balances in place to ensure proper disbursal of Drawback claims. Shipping bills, on basis of which drawback is sanctioned, are subjected to Risk Management System (RMS). AIR Schedule also prescribes the drawback cap to prevent misutilization by over valuation. ***************** GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMERCE & INDUSTRY (DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE) RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2256 TO BE ANSWERED ON 18TH MARCH, 2015 DIRECT EXPORT OF RICE BY FARMERS 2256. SHRI BHUPINDER SINGH: Will the Minister of COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY be pleased to state: a) whether the Ministry would allow export of rice by farmers directly without any middleman in between; b) if so, by when and if not, the reasons therefor; and c) whether any policy exists on inter-State sale of paddy and rice by the farmers directly and whether there is any uniform policy for sale of paddy and rice by the farmers anywhere in the country? ANSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) (SMT. NIRMALA SITHARAMAN) (a&b) As per foreign trade policy, export of all varieties of rice is free out of privately held stocks, through custom EDI enabled ports. Export of basmati rice is allowed subject to registration of contracts with APEDA. (c) No uniform policy exists on inter-state sale of paddy/rice, as agricultural marketing is a state subject. ******** GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMERCE & INDUSTRY (DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE) RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2259 TO BE ANSWERED ON 18TH MARCH, 2015 LOWER ELASTICITY OF TRADE TO REAL GDP RATIO 2259. SHRI TIRUCHI SIVA: Will the Minister of COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY be pleased to state: a) whether it is a fact that India's elasticity of trade to real GDP has been significantly lower compared to the world trade over the period 2002-2014 and that it was only India's higher growth of GDP which caused its share in world trade to grow in the pre-crisis period; b) the reasons for India's lower elasticity of trade to real GDP ratio; and c) the details of the suitable interventions by Government, if any, that could be made to improve this ratio? ANSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) (SMT. NIRMALA SITHARAMAN) a) & b) The ratio of India’s merchandise trade growth to India’s GDP growth is found to be higher than the corresponding ratio for the world. As per the data from DGCI&S, CSO, IMF and WTO for the period 2002 to 2014, India’s average merchandise (export + import) trade growth rate during 2002-03 to 2013-14 was 21.8% and GDP growth was 7.5%. The average rate of growth of world trade for the period 2002 to 2013 was 10.3% and average global GDP growth rate was 4%. India’s average merchandise (export + import) trade growth rate during 2002-03 to 2007-08 (pre crisis period) was 24.3 % and GDP growth rate 7.9%. For post crisis period 2008-09 to 2013-14, average merchandise trade growth has been estimated at 19.3% and GDP growth at 7.2%. The share of India’s merchandise trade (Export + Import) as percentage of India’s GDP has increased from 23.57% in 2002-03 to 36.43% in 2007-08, this share further increased to 44.11% by the year 2013-14. WTO data shows that India’s share in world merchandise trade increased to 1.58% in 2008 from 0.80% in 2002 (pre crisis period). In the post crisis period, India’s share in world merchandise trade increased from 1.67% in 2009 to 2.07 % in 2013. c) The improved trade to GDP ratio can be attributed to an aggressive export promotion strategy adopted by the Government especially for high value items that have a strong manufacturing base. The core of present export strategy adopted by the government is to retain presence and market share in traditional markets, move up value chain in providing export products in developed countries’ markets; and open up new vistas, both in terms of markets and products in these new markets. Strengthening efforts to build a brand image for important Indian exports, and promote a thrust for quality up-gradation. The Government continuously monitors export performance of different sectors and takes need based measures, keeping in view the financial and overall economic implications. *************** GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMERCE & INDUSTRY (DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE) RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2260 TO BE ANSWERED ON 18TH MARCH, 2015 IMPACT OF GOLD IMPORTS ON TRADE DEFICIT 2260. DR. K.V.P. RAMACHANDRA RAO: Will the Minister of COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY be pleased to state: a) whether soaring gold imports have pushed up the trade deficit and have offset the cushion provided by drop in oil prices; b) if so, how does Government proposes to deal with the situation; c) whether the yellow metal trade has witnessed a spurt in smuggling as well; and d) if so, whether it was on account of demand-supply mismatch or new duty on gold imports? ANSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) (SMT. NIRMALA SITHARAMAN) (a) & (b) India’s gold imports reached all time high levels of US$ 56.5 billion and US$ 53.8 billion respectively during 2011-12 and 2012-13, which led to higher trade deficit of US$ 183.4 billion and US$ 190.3 billion in 2011-12 and 2012-13 respectively. The rise in imports of gold was one of the factors contributing to India's high trade and current account deficit in 2011-12 and 2012-13. However, as a result of the various measures taken by the Government and Reserve Bank of India, trade deficit declined from US$ 190.3 billion in 2012-13 to US$ 135.8 billion in 2013-14. The Government has also taken a number of initiatives to boost exports and reduce imports, so as to reduce trade deficit and current account deficit. The Government gradually increased customs duty on gold from 2 per cent in January 2012 to 10 per cent in August 2013. The Reserve Bank also put in place the 80:20 scheme for nominated banks/agencies/entities to rationalize the import of gold in any form/purity, including import of gold coins/dore into the country. During 2014-15 (April-January), trade deficit increased only marginally by US$ 1.8 billion to US$ 118.4 billion as against US$ 116.5 billion for the corresponding period of previous Year. The 80:20 scheme was withdrawn in November 2014. These measures have helped in reducing trade deficit and CAD in 2013-14 and subsequent quarters of 2014-15. As regards the oil prices, the monthly average crude oil prices (Indian basket) was trading at more than US$ 100 per bbl between April 2011 to August 2014. However, crude oil prices fell sharply from September 2014 and reached US$ 46.6 per bbl in January 2015. Owing to the fall in crude oil prices the oil import bill also came down, which has led to lower levels of trade deficit in the current year. (c ) & (d) Smuggling of Gold or any other commodity/item depends on the demand and supply mismatch as well as dynamic of the price differential in domestic and international price. There are no figures available regarding estimates of smuggled gold, however, the details of Gold seized by customs, including Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, during the last three years are as under: Year Number of cases 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15(Till Jan 15) 503 900 2450 3412 Value of Gold Seized (Rs. Crores) 43.87 104.62 686.99 931.55 **********************