The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Rupee appreciation: Centre mulling relief to exporters

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Thursday, Jun 28, 2007
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Rupee appreciation: Centre mulling relief to exporters

Special Correspondent

Country clocked 9.4 per cent growth
Benefits of growth yet to reach common man

PHOTO: P.V. Sivakumar.

All ears: Delegates from Latin American countries attending the two-day India-LAC International Pharma Meet in Hyderabad on Wednesday.

HYDERABAD: The Union Government is seriously considering the fallout on Indian exports due to appreciation of rupee against dollar and will surely take steps to ensure that the exports are not affected, Union Minister of State for Finance Pawan Kumar Bansal said here on Wednesday.

Inaugurating the three-day ‘India-Latin American and Caribbean countries International Pharma Meet’ organised by Pharmaceutical Export Promotion Council (Pharmexcil) here on Wednesday, Mr. Bansal said that Commerce Minister Kamal Nath had already taken up the issue with Finance Minister P. Chidambaram. He also said that India clocked 9.4 per cent of growth and was working for sustaining it.

Mr. Bansal said that pharma industry played a key role in the growth story of the country. Indian pharma exports ranked fourth in terms of volume across the globe, while it was 13th in value terms, which indicated that the India was a producer of quality healthcare products at an affordable price. The Government wanted to see that India was the pharmaceutical research and development hub.

Trillion-dollar economy

Though the country was a trillion-dollar economy, the benefits of growth were yet to reach the common man, said Mr. Bansal, adding that the patent laws were jacking up the prices of pharma products.

Nelson Proenca, State Secretary of Department of Development and International Affairs, Government of Brazil, said that the economies which were on the fast track should work together to reap more benefits. Brazil was ranked 10th in the pharmaceutical marketing.

FDI

As India opened up the pharma sector for 100 per cent foreign direct investment, world major companies could consider establishing their industries here, said G.S. Sandhu, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Chemicals and Petrochemcials.

Chairman of Pharmexcil D.B. Mody urged the Minister to consider extension of income tax exemption to export-oriented units that was coming to an end by March 2009, differential rate of buying currency from exporters, hike in DEPB (duty entitled passbook) rates, among other things.

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