Centre considering 100% WFH across all SEZ units, says Piyush Goyal

Commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal on Tuesday said that the government will look into the industry’s demand to allow 100 per cent work from home for employees of units in special economic zones (SEZs).

The move is expected to create employment opportunities in small cities and increase the export of services. “We had permitted work from home in SEZ units during Covid times. It was appreciated by all and it also helped in pushing our services exports. It was $254 billion last year. This year also there will be a jump in that,” the minister said after the Board of Trade meeting in the national capital.

The statement comes months after the commerce and industry ministry allowed 50 per cent of the total employees in units SEZs, including contractual workers, to work from home. At present, work from home is permitted for a maximum period of a year in a special economic zone (SEZ) unit.

Goyal was chairing the first meeting of the newly reconstituted Board of Trade that advises the government on policy measures related to foreign trade policy in order to achieve the objectives of boosting India’s trade. The meeting was attended by various state ministers, commerce secretary, industry department secretary, DGFT, all major trade and industry bodies, as well as export promotion councils and industry associations.

The meeting took place weeks before the announcement of the new foreign trade policy and at a time when some moderation is being seen in India’s export growth.

An official statement said the meeting focused on export target setting, the upcoming Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) and the strategy and measures to be taken in order to take forward domestic manufacturing and exports.

The minister said the export competitiveness of states and union territories needs to be enhanced to meet India’s ambitious international trade target of $2 trillion by 2030.

During the meeting, presentations were made on India’s import-export performance, restructuring of the department of commerce, free trade agreements and the way forward, states export performance, districts as export hubs, among others.

Exporters also raised sector-specific concerns. In the meeting, Engineering Export Promotion Council of India (EEPC) Chairman Mahesh Desai urged the government to withdraw export duty on selected steel items as it will be especially helpful for the MSMEs that have a significant contribution in India’s engineering exports.

Dedicated production linked incentive scheme for MSME sector, guidelines for Rupee trade with Russia and alternative payment mechanism for Myanmar were some of the key suggestions by EEPC India during the meeting. Desaid also requested the government to relook at the rates under RoDTEP and give full rebate on the taxes that still remain in the export production chain.

The Apparel Export Promotion Council said that few steps need to be taken to improve export performance, such as the need for stabilising raw material prices–raw cotton– and ensuring sustainable availability, PLI scheme for apparel, among others.

Dear Reader,

Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance.

We, however, have a request.

As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed.

Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard.

Digital Editor