FICCI seeks separate export promotion council for auto sector

NEW DELHI: Industry lobby Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) Monday urged the government to set up a separate export promotion council (EPC) for India's automotive industry to help it achieve higher share in the global market.

"A separate EPC with the primary objective of helping the Indian auto sector to achieve 5 percent share in global trade in the next 10 years needs to be created," the chamber said in a statement.

According to UN estimates, India currently accounts for about 0.5 percent of the gross annual auto exports, marginally up from 0.2 percent in 2000.

Among developing countries, India stands sixth in the global auto exports, trailing behind China, Mexico, Brazil, Turkey and Thailand.

China is leading the market among developing countries with 4.4 percent share.

India has recently undertaken mass export activities with South Korean carmaker Hyundai's Indian operations leading the bunch as the biggest exporter.

"Indian automotive industry needs to diversify its destinations of exports for which this council would be instrumental. Currently, India does not export significant amount of automotive items to some of the major importing countries like Australia, Canada, Russia and Saudi Arabia," it added.