Mr. Kumar Mangalam Birla to Head the Board of Trade

Business Standard
20 March 2005

The government has reconstituted the Board of Trade with Mr. Kumar Mangalam Birla as its chairman and Maruti Udyog chief Mr. Jagdish Khattar and Mr. Baba Kalyani of Bharat Forge among its 38 members.

The board has been reconstituted by commerce and industry minister Mr. Kamal Nath with effect from 1 April 2005 in order to "ensure a continuous dialogue with trade and industry", an official release here said.

It would inter-alia advise the government on policy measures connected with the foreign trade policy in order to achieve the "desired objective of boosting exports".

In a departure from the past practice when the Board of Trade used to be headed by the minister himself, Mr. Nath has instead designated an eminent representative of trade and industry, Mr. Birla, to be the chairman of the board, it said.

The board would also include Mr. Ishaat Hussain (Tata Sons), Mr. Malvinder Singh (Ranbaxy), Mr. Erfan Allana (Allana Sons), Mr. Ravi Raheja (Shoppers Stop), Mr. Prashant Ruia (Essar Group), Mr. A C Muthiah (SPIC), Mr. Harsh Neotia (Gujarat Ambuja), Mr. Rana Kapoor (Yes Bank), economist Mr. Swaminathan S Anklesaria Aiyar, the CII president, the FICCI president, the FIEO president, the ASSOCHAM president, the NASSCOM president, Gems and Jewellery EPC chairman, chairmen of SRTPEC and HHEC, president of Seafood Exporters Association of India, chairman of the Council of Leather Exporters and chairmen of Chemexcil, Pharmexcil, Capexil, Electronics and Software Council and president, EPC for EOUs.

The official members of the board are Secretary, Department of Commerce; Secretary of Revenue; Secretary (ER), ministry of external affairs; Secretary, Ministry of Textiles; Chairman, India Trade Promotion Organisation; Chairman and Managing Director, Export Credit Guarantee Corporation; Managing Director, Exim Bank; Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India, central office, Mumbai; Secretary, Shipping, Goverment of India and Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) as member secretary.

The terms of reference of the Board of Trade would be to advise the government on policy measures for preparation and implementation of both short and long term plans for increasing exports in the light of emerging national and international economic scenario to review export performance of various sectors, identify constraints and suggest industry-specific measures to optimise export earnings.

It would examine the existing institutional framework for imports and exports and suggest practical measures for further streamlining to achieve the desired objectives. The Board would review policy instruments and procedures for imports and exports and suggest steps to rationalise and channelise such schemes for optimum use.

The Board would also examine issues which are considered relevant for promotion of India's foreign trade and strengthen international competitiveness of Indian goods and services and to commission studies for furtherance of the above objectives.