NEW DELHI, Sept. 26NReuter: The Indian government gave large businesses and foreign companies’ free rein today to expand production capacity as part Of a bid to boost exports.
“The government has decided to allow industrial undertakings to freely produce in excess of their licensed or registered capacity if 100 per cent of the additional productions exported,” the industry ministry said in a statement.
‘The ‘major liberalization step’ ‘was designed to help improve the ‘country’s falter fig exports, it added.
New Delhi has announced incentives to boost exports after running up a record trade deficit of 79.51 billion rupees (6.62 billion dollars) in the year to the end of last march the deficit of 51.88 billion rupees (4.32 billion dollars) larger than in the previous year.
‘The incentives included making key industrial raw materials like steel available to exporters at international prices and lowering taxes on export profits.
“The major beneficiaries of the latest industrial reform will be large Indian monopoly houses and foreign owned companies an official of the federation of Indian chambers of commerce and industry said.
“They will be freed from complex and lengthy procedures to get new licenses for expanding their industrial capacity”, he said,
Today’s move follows others that have eased controls over industry, delicensed 25 industries and initiated a ‘broad banding policy that, for example, permitted truck manufacturers to make cars.
Imports of high technology and investment in electronics, petroleum, engineering and cars have been encouraged under Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s policy of preparing India into the 21st century.
The introduction of competition in India’s sheltered domestic market has set off a rush of foreign investment in cars, computers, television and even fast food.
Article extracted from this publication >> October 3, 1986
