World Trade Organization Organisation Mondiale du Commerce Organización Mundial del Comercio

January June 2008
10
July–December 2008	4
January–June 2009	4
July–December 2009	11
January–June 2010	6
July–December 2010	16

In two cases the Central Government did not impose anti dumping measures despite the recommendations of the Designated Authority.

As regards safeguard measures, restraint was exercised by imposition of lower rate of safeguard duty and for a shorter duration of time than recommended by the investigating suthority (IA). In one case, the safeguard measure was limited to the period of provisional safeguard measure.

US 5:

Report by the Secretariat (WT/TPR/S/249): I. ECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT: (1) Overview: page 1, paragraph 3:

In addition to the government's decision to increase investor limits in the corporate bond and government bond markets, what additional policies is India considering to attract more medium – and long term capital, "particularly given India's infrastructure and general investment needs"?

Reply: In order to attract more foreign funds in the medium to long terms for financing of infrastructure the Government has announced that it would create special vehicles in the form of notified infrastructure debt funds. The interest payments on the borrowings of these funds would be subjected to a reduced withholding tax rate of 5% instead of the current rate of 20% and the income of such funds would be exempt from tax. The government is encouraging increased reliance on public private partnerships (PPPs) and has put in place policy and regulatory framework for PPPs for all infrastructure sectors that can be commercialized.

US 6:

Report by the Secretariat (WT/TPR/S/249): I. ECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT: (2) Recent Economic Developments: Page 3, paragraph 5:

According to the Secretariat, "The IMF estimates India's GDP growth potential to be some 8.5% per year; the authorities consider the post global crisis growth potential to be of some 8%. Achieving this in a context of a lesser reliance on public consumption and investment will imply boosting private investment, which, over the medium run will require a simplification of the business and regulatory environment, as well as facing the challenges of improving infrastructure to overcome the current shortcomings." What are India's plans to address these challenges?

Reply: The Indian economy was among the first economies to recover from the 2008 09 global economic and financial crisis. After recovering to a growth rate of 8.0% in 2009 10, it has registered a growth of 8.5% in 2010 11. Prior to the global crisis the Indian economy had averaged growth in real GDP close to 9.0%. The OECD's Second Economic Survey of India (June 2011) places India's growth potential close to 9%. Long run GDP growth would be around that and accordingly, the Twelfth Five Year Plan is likely to target 9% plus growth.

The Government is in the process of implementing several real and financial sector reforms and this will further improve the economic environment in the country. The regulatory architecture is being made more amenable for sustainable growth. The policy environment has been made more conducive for the spread of public private partnership in the infrastructure sector.

US 7:

Report by the Secretariat (WT/TPR/S/249): I. ECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT: (2) Recent Economic Developments: Page 5, paragraph 10:

The Secretariat says: "Trade related administrative measures have also been used, such as export prohibitions (e.g. on non basmati rice, onions, and edible oils (see Chapter IV(2)) and minimum export prices (onions and basmati rice). The authorities have indicated that these measures were taken in view of the emerging scenario of scarcity and the consequent rise in prices of essential commodities." How did these restrictions and government interventions succeed in achieving India's objectives and how did they contribute to India's global competitiveness?

Reply: The measures were meant to address the issue of critical shortages of essential commodities and this objective was achieved through these interventions. The export restriction on non basmati rice has been removed vide DGFT notification No. 71 dated 09.09.2011.

US 8:

Report by the Secretariat (WT/TPR/S/249): I. ECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT: (2) Recent Economic Developments: Page 6, paragraph 11:

According to the Secretariat, "Agriculture accounts for just over 5% of total organized employment but this figure is misleading, as most agriculture labourers are not unionized or otherwise organized." Do these workers have the right under Indian laws to unionize or organize?

Reply: There is no bar in unionisation of agriculture labour. Labour unions do exist in agriculture plantations like tea and coffee plantations where there are large number of agriculture labour employed.

The Trade Union Act, 1926 has empowered the workers of the country including agriculture workers to form associations in the form of trade unions. In India, the number of agricultural workers employed in the Central sphere is negligible and the bulk of enforcement in the agricultural sector rests with the State Government. As per the statistics available in trade unions in India, 2006 (labour bureau), the number of unions submitting returns under agriculture, hunting and forestry is 274 with membership of 13,11,424 (men: 8,20,290 and women: 4,90,504) for the year 2006. We have also ratified ILO Conventions No. 11 (Right of Association (Agriculture), 1921) and No. 141 (Rural Workers' Organization, 1975).

In India, there are several categories of rural workers and the most prominent among them are: agriculture labourers, construction workers, beedi workers, blacksmiths, fishermen, forest workers, etc. For the categories of workers mentioned above, several forms of organizations exist in the country, for example there are trade union organizations for agricultural labourers, construction workers, forest and wood workers, etc. In addition, there are general workers organizations which consist of rural workers from various categories. The important rural workers' organizations in the country are: Bharatiya Khet Mazdoor Union and the All India Agricultural Workers' Union. In addition to these, there are several central unions, for example Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh, Indian National Trade Union Congress, etc. have their own rural workers' wings.

US 9:

Report by the Secretariat (WT/TPR/S/249): I. ECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT: (2) Recent Economic Developments: Page 6, paragraph 12:

How does international trade in goods and services – both exports and imports – specifically contribute to the Indian government's efforts to confront the country's poverty alleviation challenges?

Reply: Trade in goods and services contribute both directly and indirectly in poverty alleviation. India's employment oriented exports like leather products, gems and jewellery, textiles, handicrafts and carpets provide huge employment opportunities. India also exports many forest products, handicrafts and agricultural products which help people in the rural areas, tribal and backward communities. Similarly, service exports like tourism provide direct and indirect employment to different strata of society which constitutes nearly 9.2% of the total employment in the country. Government has also initiated the skill development mission, providing appropriate training, technology upgradation etc to these employment oriented export sectors.

US 10:

Report by the Secretariat (WT/TPR/S/249): I. ECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT: (3) Fiscal Policy: Page 6, paragraph 14:

"Since," according to the Secretariat, "tax revenue continues to be insufficient to finance India's infrastructural and developmental needs," what tools does the Indian government have to address each of these needs? What role do trade and investment play in its plans?

Reply: A roadmap on fiscal consolidation that will reduce the debt to GDP ratio will help in unlocking more resources from Government revenue in future to be used for developmental programmes instead of debt servicing. The roadmap envisages prudential expenditure management through which the Government of India will generate resources to meet the development needs of various sectors. As part of expenditure correction, the Government has a established a practice of extending targeted food subsidies to the poor in cash in order to bring down overall subsidy related liabilities. The public sector is vastly enhancing its use of the Public private partnership (PPP) mode for project financing. This enables fiscal space for the provision of public goods in development sectors where such finance is unlikely to be forthcoming.