Soft trade barriers put up by the European Union need to be removed in order to promote Indian exports and turnaround the negative trade balance that India has with the EU.

This is according to the Chairman of the EXIM Bank of India, Mr T.C.A. Ranganathan.

Speaking at a roundtable on EU India Partnership here on Monday, Mr Ranganathan said, “For EU, India is not that important in terms of global trade. Indian exports and imports are less than one per cent of EU's total trade. In order to sustain the investment, Indian exports need to grow.”

Strong sectors

He highlighted information technology, pharmaceuticals and textiles as the sectors where Indian exports are strong but added that soft trade barriers put up by the EU adversely impact the Indian exporters.

“In textiles, there are numerous anti-dumping cases which go on for months and it is never proved even after months of investigation.

“This hurts the small Indian exporters who can't handle the losses they face during the months when their products are seized,” said Mr Ranganathan.

Double standards

He also highlighted EU's double standards when it comes to quality of pharmaceutical products as well as the need for easier norms for visas for IT professionals.

“IT services require the mobility of people. Indian people face a lot of barriers in terms of visas and durations of visas.

“These need to be eased for more IT exports from India,” said the EXIM Bank Chairman.

Manufacturing hub

Mr Ranganathan also invited EU companies to develop India as a manufacturing hub by pointing out the advantages of the country in terms of labour force and the stringent Intellectual Property Rights rules in the country.

“India is very IPR sensitive and protective. We also have a large labour force and more importantly we have quality labour force, these are all the right ingredients to develop large manufacturing hubs in the country,” he said.