Niti Aayog and the Commerce Ministry are in discussions to evaluate the EPCs.
Kamalika Ghosh@GhoshKamalika
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In a bid to boost exports, the government is planning to begin a performance-based evaluation of the export promotion councils (EPCs) after receiving a directive from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).
Over two dozen EPCs could face closure or would have to undergo restructuring in case they are unable to meet their targets.
“The PMO some days ago suggested that we should see if any of the EPCs need support in order to boost exports. Later, the Niti Aayog decided to rank these councils. Some meetings have been held and we are still working on the process,” a senior official told Moneycontrol on condition of anonymity.
The government is evaluating the EPCs in a bid to increase their share of Indian exports in the product markets catered to by these EPCs.
“Discussions are also on on assigning mutually agreed upon targets to these EPCs and in case they fail to achieve them, they might face closure of have to be restructured,” the official said.
Niti Aayog and the Commerce Ministry are in discussions to evaluate the EPCs. After the completion of the process, the EPCs will be ranked as part of an ongoing policy of developing indices and ranking on real-time basis.
Each council promotes a particular group of products or projects or services. The EPCs are funded by the government under the Market Access Initiative (MAI) and Marketing Development Assistance scheme to give support to export promotion.
The government spent Rs 270 crore in 2018-19 on MAI and has allotted Rs 300 crore for the current fiscal. Increase in export share of these councils, the extent of penetration into existing markets, and efforts to explore and enter new markets are some of the parameters being considered for evaluation of the EPCs.