The Directorate-General of Foreign Trade will consider the plea of the leather industry to extend the Towns of Export Excellence (TEE) status to more clusters in India.
Ambur (Tamil Nadu), Kanpur and Agra (Uttar Pradesh) and Dewas (Madhya Pradesh) have been declared TEE in the Foreign Trade Policy of 2009-14. The leather industry wants to extend the status to Ranipet (Tamil Nadu), Gurgaon in NCR and Unnao (UP).
“If the clusters cross the threshold of export of Rs 1,000 crore, we will definitely examine the request,” Dr Anup K. Pujari, Director-General of Foreign Trade, told newspersons on the sidelines of an interaction session on export scenario organised by the Federation of Indian Export Organisations.
Apart from the Assistance to States for Infrastructure Development for Exports scheme granted to state governments for developing export infrastructure, the facilities granted to Towns of Export Excellence include common service and the facility of the EPCG scheme.
In order to grant recognition to these industrial clusters with a view to maximising their potential and enabling them to move higher in the value chain and tap new markets, it was decided that select towns producing goods of Rs 1,000 crore or more will be notified as Towns of Exports Excellence on the basis of potential for growth in exports.