EPCH member exporters urge Textiles Secretary to remove bottlenecks in handicrafts sector
Greater Noida – 28th July, 2021: U.P. Singh, IAS, Secretary, Ministry of Textiles, Govt. of India visited India Expo Centre & Mart, Greater Noida today to get an overview of the handicraft sector, inspect Mart facilities and also discuss various issues/suggestions pertaining to handicrafts sector with the prominent exporters. The Secretary (Textiles) was welcomed by Raj Kumar Malhotra, Chairman, EPCH and in his address spoke about the journey of EPCH over the last 35 years and also shared the export performance of the sector.
Dr. Rakesh Kumar, Director General-EPCH and Chairman-IEML in his address gave an overview of the activities and initiatives of India Expo Centre & Mart and Export Promotion Council for Handicrafts and requested the Secretary (Textiles) to intervene in resolving various issues related to handicrafts sector and also sought his time in future with his officials for a presentation to discuss doubling of handicrafts exports from current level of Rs. 25,000 crores to Rs. 50,000 crores in next three years.
During the interaction meeting, the exporters raised various issues like restoration of provision of duty-free import of essential embellishments, trimmings, tools consumables for export purposes for the handicrafts sector; high freight charges for containers; establishment of regulatory body of shipping lines; early release of MEIS benefits; announcement of RoDTEP rates; Policy for B2B ecommerce, warehousing facility, Risky Exporters’ list, EGM error and others before the Secretary (Textiles).
Avdesh Agarwal from Moradabad raised the issue of RoDTEP rates, release of MEIS benefits, matter regarding risky exporters list, requested for consideration of handicraft sector under textiles category by Govt. of Uttar Pradesh and high container freight charges. Naresh Bothra, Bharat Dinesh of Jodhpur and Rajesh Jain, Delhi also raised the same issues. Dileep Baid from Jaipur raised the issue of B2B E-Commerce policy framework and need for wareshousing in overseas market. Lali Sahni, Delhi and Smt. Anu Dhall, Moradabad raised the issue of importance of technology intervention in the handicraft sector. Ruma Devi from Barmer requested for distribution of tools to the artisans at Barmer. Jemina Zeliang, Nagaland raised the issue of capacity building and design intervention in North-Eastern Region, Najmul Islam and Neeraj Khanna spoke about the CSR initiatives taken during pandemic at Moradabad. Rajat Asthana, Agra raised the issue of EGM error while shipping of Goods.
The meeting was attended by Kamal Soni, Vice-Chairman-EPCH; Ravi K Passi, Immediate Past Chairman-EPCH; Arshad Mir, Chairman, HCSSC; Nabeel Ahmed, Member-COA; Avdesh Aggarwal, General Secretary, Moradabad Handicrafts Exporters Association; Rajat Asthana, President, Handicrafts Exporters Association, Agra; Prince Malik, Convenor FASCO; Lekhraj Maheshwari, Member CoA EPCH & convener NWR, Rajesh Jain, Social Media Head-EPCH; Lali Sahni, Anu Dhall, Hari Dadoo (Khurja), Ashok Arora, Tafsir Ahmed, Vineet Bhatia, Rajendra Gupta (Firozabad).
The meeting was also attended virtually by Jesmina Zeliang, Nagaland; Dileep Baid, Jaipur; Tulasi Rao, Narsapur; K L Ramesh, Bangalore; Hansraj Baheti, Bharat Dinesh and Naresh Bothra, Jodhpur; Neeraj Khanna and Najmul Islam, Moradabad; Ashok Boob, Pradeep Muchala & Karan Jethwani, Mumbai; Ruma Devi, Barmer and many others.
The Secretary (Textiles) patiently heard all the issues of exporters and assured to take up the issues with concerned departments for early resolution and hoped the handicraft sector with all its hard work would be able to achieve quantum jump in handicrafts exports in the future.
