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Government to help farmers in export of perishables

The government is determined to help farmers to step up exports of flowers, fruits, vegetables and other perishables. Plans are afoot to set up several cold storage centres at airports.

As a first step in that direction, Union Commerce Minister Ramakrishna Hegde today inaugurated the first-ever cargo centre for perishables in the south built at a cost of Rs 25 million at Bangalore airport.

Another high-tech export cargo processing centre would be constructed at Bangalore at a cost of Rs 300 million near the cold storage unit to help the state farmers to export flowers, vegetables and fruits.

He said air-conditioned export marketing yards would also be set up at Mangalore and Goa, besides at other international airports to step up exports, especially agricultural products.

Civil Aviation Minister Anant Kumar, who was also present, said the Bangalore centre, which was exporting flowers worth Rs 10 billion, could double exports during the year as several such consignments, which were being diverted to Bombay from the state and neighbouring states, would come to the centre.

He said another such centre would be set up at Mangalore airport for export of marine products, as it had vast potential.

Hegde said the export of perishable products which was worth Rs 3 billion during 1991-92 had now touched Rs 6 billion.

Despite being an agriculture-based economy, farm products contributed only 24 per cent of the gross national product and there was vast potential for improvement. Farmers needed basic facilities and subsidy or some concession for their inputs. If these were provided, the country would become one of the leading exporters of agro-products, he opined.

Hegde criticised political and bureaucratic interferences in business matters. These have bogged down projects worth Rs 1.3 trillion leading to heavy outgo of amount as interest besides the country getting a "black tag" in the international arena, he said.

He said non-resident Indians and foreign investors were losing faith in India. If the "black cloud" was to clear, it was necessary for the government and officials to ensure completion of projects within the stipulated time.

He said billions of rupees were being paid as interest due to the delay and keeping the projects on the pipeline.

Moreover, the project estimates had been going up following escalation and re-revision of such projects several times, leading to further delay, which made them unviable, he added.

Hegde said the export sector, during the last two years, was not performing according to expectations. In consultation with Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha, he had announced some incentives, besides simplifying the procedures. He called upon the exporters to make use of the opportunity to improve their performance.

Kumar said he along with Hegde and Union Rural Devleopment Minister Baba Gowda Patil pressed for completion of all pending projects in the state and urged the state government to cooperate by allocating land wherever required.

He said the cargo centre at Delhi, which was inaugurated in July, and the Bangalore centre were realised due to the joint efforts of the commerce and civil aviation ministries.

He said the Centre had agreed to convert 868 kilometres of state highway into national highway. It was for the first time in the state's history that such a large stretch was being converted, he added.

Karnataka's Horticulture Minister D T Jaikumar, in his address, urged Hegde to take up the problem of "duty tax" on Indian flowers in Europe. He said several complaints had been received from exporters as the tax made exports uneconomical resulting in a huge drop in the exports in recent times.

State Industry Minister K Shivappa, in his address, referred to Hegde's allegation about the poor infrastructural facilities, especially the bad condition of city roads, and said he would discuss the matter with the chief minister and initiate action immediately to improve them.

UNI