Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called Friday on all ministries to slash red tape and increase productivity to achieve a two-way trade target of 500 billion dollars by 2010, officials said. Singh, who met a government-appointed advisory trade body, discussed the need for removing bottlenecks in infrastructure and easing rigid labour laws to boost the share of Indian-made products in the global market.
Indian trade during the last financial year ended March was 185 billion dollars, including 80 billion dollars of exports and 105 billion dollars of imports, which have been rising due to India's soaring demand for oil.
But a foreign exchange reserve of around 150 billion dollars has shielded the country from a growing trade deficit.
India has been trying to boost exports by easing bureaucratic controls and has also relaxed foreign investment limits across most industrial sectors as it attempts to increase the dollar flow.
Kumaramangalam Birla, chairman of the board of trade, said the manufacturing sector must be strengthened in order to achieve the targeted growth rate.
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