Finance Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman announces relief package to boost Exports to support Indian economy

NEW DELHI : Union Finance & Corporate Affairs Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman here on Monday announced a slew of measures to provide relief to diverse sectors affected by the 2^nd wave of COVID-19 pandemic. The measures announced also aim to prepare the health systems for emergency response and provide impetus for growth and employment. Union Minister of State for Finance & Corporate Affairs Shri Anurag Singh Thakur; Finance Secretary Dr T.V. Somanathan; Secretary, DFS, Shri Debashish Panda and Secretary, Revenue, Shri Tarun Bajaj were also present during the announcement of relief package.

A total of 17 measures amounting to Rs. 6,28,993 crore were announced. These included two measures announced to boost Exports which are as follows.

Rs. 33,000 crore Boost for Project Exports through National Export Insurance Account (NEIA)

National Export Insurance Account (NEIA) Trust promotes Medium and Long Term (MLT) project exports by extending risk covers. It provides covers to buyer’s credit, given by EXIM Bank, to less credit-worthy borrowers and supporting project exporters. NEIA Trust has supported 211 projects of Rs 52,860 crore in 52 countries by 63 different Indian Project Exporters till March 31, 2021. It has been decided to provide additional corpus to NEIA over 5 years. This will enable it to underwrite additional Rs. 33,000 crore of project exports.

Rs. 88,000 crore boost to Export Insurance Cover

Export Credit Guarantee Corporation (ECGC) promotes exports by providing credit insurance services.  Its products support around 30% of India’s merchandise exports. It has been decided to infuse equity in ECGC over 5 years to boost export insurance cover by Rs. 88,000 crore.

Source : PIB