India's export growth bypasses Northeast

India's merchandise exports crossing the 400 billion dollars target marks a new milestone as it is the highest-ever goods exports by the country. Including exports of services, and merchandise exports estimated to close at 410 billion dollars the total exports are set to reach 650 billion dollars in the current financial year. Share of the Northeast region being measly 0.156% of the country's total exports holds out the mirror on the regional disparity that needs to be addressed. The country's merchandise exports jumped 37% from the level of 292 billion dollars in 2020-21 to 400 billion dollars nine days ahead of the close of the current financial year is a commendable achievement considering the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Central Government has described the achievement as a key milestone in the campaign- Local Goes Global in India's Atmanirbhar Bharat journey and rising popularity of 'Make in India' products. Official data show that major commodity groups covering 73.77% of total exports and showing positive growth in February 2022 over the corresponding month of the previous year are engineering goods (31.34%), petroleum products (66.29%), gems and jewellery (15.79%), organic and inorganic chemicals (24.74%), readymade garments of all textiles (18.54%), electronic goods (33.77%), cotton yarn/ fabrics/ made-ups handloom products etc., (32.84%), rice (0.19%) and plastic and linoleum (25.69%). Assam accounts for more than 50% of the country's total tea production. However, tea not figuring among these top principal commodities contributing to the export growth story also speaks volumes about the new realities before the tea industry. Disaggregated data show a larger picture of not all commodities fetching higher value despite the rise in export volume. Export value of tea reduced by 1.28% from Rs 5214 crore in April 2020-February 2021 to Rs 5148.40 crore in April 2021–February 2022. The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Commerce highlighted in its report that of the total exports from eight north-eastern states valued at 455.2 million dollars in 2020-21, Assam alone accounted for 415.6 million dollars which indicate the share of India's export trade for other states in the region is quite negligible. This is a paradoxical situation as the region has 98% international borders with neighbouring countries- Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, Myanmar and Nepal, and it shares 2% of its land boundary with the rest of India. The parliamentary panel recommends that a strategy, focusing upon minimising the obstructions in the trade ecosystem, mainly the infrastructural and logistical infirmities, should be formulated. This should also be supplemented by establishing strong linkages of the region with mainland traders as well as developing a robust land-based trade across borders which would boost local economies, it insists. The USP of organic farming can boost the export of agricultural produce in the region but this knowledge is limited to training programmes, workshops, academic discourses. Efforts to plot individual success stories of exporting organic agricultural and horticultural produce to scale shipping container volumes are not prominently visible. Seamless connectivity from organic farms to export hubs with logistics such as cold storage, cold chain and processing, packaging units along the value chain is still a far cry despite the Central government pushing trans-border connectivity including multimodal connectivity projects in the region. Lack of synergies among various central ministries, state departments as well as inter-state coordination among the states in the region have led to different stakeholders of export trade in the region's working silos. This has posed impediments in the region unlocking the huge export potential even after India increased trade and commerce relations with its neighbours and with ASEAN countries. The reopening of Border haats in the region with Bangladesh which was closed down following the outbreak of the pandemic is expected to increase the volume of exports to Bangladesh. Operationalization of the Motor Vehicle Agreement among India, Bangladesh and Nepal under the BBIN sub-regional architecture will pave the way for faster movement of goods from the region to these countries. The successful movement of cargo vessels between Pandu and Patna along the Brahmaputra via Indo-Bangladesh Protocol routes has also demonstrated the export potential for the region waiting to be tapped. States in the region reviewing their policies on ease of doing business to remove the bottlenecks and facilitating credit linkage with an eye on export business can infuse new dynamism in the ecosystem. Harnessing the one district one product scheme pushed by the Central Government can diversify the region's export basket with unique high-value products ranging from organic agricultural and horticultural produce, traditional handloom and handicraft items to processed foods. The establishment of more export promotion industrial parks, agricultural-horticultural export processing hubs having all-weather connectivity to land custom stations or integrated check posts is vital to increasing export volumes and value in the region. It is high time the region took a giant leap from policy initiatives to a strategic action plan with the definite objective of boosting exports of its goods and services.