In a bid to provide a “major” thrust to job creation by enhancing India’s exports, the NITI Aayog has set up a task force to be headed by its Vice-Chairman Rajiv Kumar.
The task force, which includes government and private sector representatives, will submit its report by November.
The objectivesAmong other things, the task force will propose a comprehensive plan of action to generate employment and alleviate under-employment in both goods and services sectors and low wages by boosting India’s exports in key labour-intensive industries, as per its terms of reference.
Its other terms of reference include suggesting ways to enhance the availability of data on trade such that it is “reliable, globally comparable and timely, particularly with respect to trade in services”, an official release said.
Recommending sector-specific policy interventions in key employment sectors, measures to enhance trade in services with high employment potential, identifying key macroeconomic factors constraining exports and suggesting methods to address these constraints, assessing the effectiveness of existing schemes to promote exports and issues related to logistics, export credits and trade facilitation are its other terms of reference.
The other members of the task force are CEO, NITI Aayog, Secretaries of the Department of Commerce, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, Department of Economic Affairs and Ministry of Textiles, as also Rajeev Kher, former Secretary, Department of Commerce; Ajit Ranade, Chief Economist, Aditya Birla Group; Praveen Chakravarty, Senior Fellow, IDFC Institute; Jayanta Roy, formerly of The World Bank; Harish Ahuja, MD, Shahi Exports; D Shivakumar, Chairman and CEO, PepsiCo, India; Sunil Vachani, Executive Chairman, Dixon Electronics; Dipak Deva, CEO, Kuoni Travels; and Dhiraj Nayyar, OSD, NITI Aayog.