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New Delhi : Minister of State for Commerce and Industry and Minister of State Independent Charge of Civil Aviation and Housing and Urban Affairs, Hardeep Singh Puri, gave away the Engineering Export Promotion Awards (EEPC) for the year 2017-2018 at a function in New Delhi on December 10, 2019. Speaking on this occasion, Puri congratulated the EEPC for reaching a record high exports of USD 76 billion in 2017-18 and USD 87 billion in 2018-19. He hoped that by next year India’s engineering exports will reach the target of USD 1 trillion.
This year EEPC celebrates and completes 50 years of rewarding exporters and 111 winners were given national awards for 2017-18 across 8 categories in over 32 product panels. This year, for the first time, Quality Control of India (QCI) has been invited to evaluate EEPC member companies and EEPC India-QCI Quality awards were given away to 7 winners.
Puri congratulated EEPC for completing 50 years of rewarding exporters and also complemented 111 winners who received national awards. He urged the engineering sector that employs 40 lakh workers to get abreast with global engineering standards and adopt new technology to upgrade their core efficiency and improve their competency and achieve cost competitiveness. He exhorted the engineering industries to establish smart factories for optimum use of land, labour, and capital. He said that since fifty-five percent of EEPC members are MSMEs, they must also strategise to upgrade their technology and production profile to enter the global value chain, according to a PIB release.
The Minister informed the gathering about all the measures taken by the Government of India and the Department of Commerce and Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) to simplify, bring in greater transparency in the export procedures, and enhanced credit and insurance to exporters. The DGFT has put in place a fully electronic refund module and an online filing and issuance of preferential certificate of origin. A web portal of industrial schemes of different Ministries of the Government of India is also available to the engineering industries and the NIRVIK scheme has been announced to ensure enhanced loan availability for exporters.