Exports likely to touch $350 bn in current fiscal: Prabhu
New Delhi, July 25 : Indian exports are expected to rake up healthy growth rates in the coming months and is likely to touch $350 billion by end of the current financial year, Commerce Minister Suresh Prabhu said on Wednesday.
Speaking at the second Services Excellence Awards organised by industry body Assocham, the Minister also said that the services sector is set to become a dominant driver of the economy and will contribute $3 trillion to the GDP by 2025.
"Despite increasing global protectionism, exports will continue to register healthy growth rates and is expected to touch $billion in the current fiscal (2018-19)," he said.
"In order to give a boost to the services sector, the Commerce Ministry has identified 12 champion services sectors for which Cabinet has approved a dedicated fund of Rs 5,000 crore to support initiatives for sectoral action."
Noting that the services sector contributes significantly to India's increased productivity and competitiveness, Prabhu said that high quality of the champion services sectors will further boost exports of various services from India.
He also said that India is pushing for export of services to countries in Africa and Latin America.
"India has a two pronged agenda with its trading partners of allowing professionals from India to travel abroad and trade facilitation in services export," he added.
Indian merchandise shipments have been on a rising curve, and as per official data earlier this month, exports in June at $27.7 billion rose by 17.57 per cent over the same month in 2017. But with higher crude prices increasing oil import costs by more than half over the last year, the country's trade deficit soared to $16.60 billion.
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Bridge portion collapses on Jammu outskirts; 3-4 labourers feared trapped, 1 rescued
Jammu (PTI): A portion of a small bridge collapsed in the Bantalab area on the outskirts of Jammu city on Friday, trapping at least three to four labourers under the debris, while one injured worker was rescued, official sources said.
Authorities have closed the road link following the collapse of the portion of the bridge.
The incident occurred when labourers were carrying out repair work on a retaining wall near the bridge that was damaged in last year's flash floods, the sources said.
According to the sources, a section of the bridge suddenly gave way, burying workers engaged at the site under the rubble.
Police, Army and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) teams launched rescue operations to extricate those buried under the debris. They pulled out one injured labourer and shifted him to a hospital, the sources said.
Family members of the labourers present at the site said around six workers engaged at the site at the time of the incident came under the debris when the structure collapsed. The family members said while two of the labourers managed to escape, four got trapped.
The sources said those trapped included the husband of a woman labourer, a mason, an unmarried labourer and a relative of the contractor.
There was no official confirmation on the exact number of persons trapped under the debris till the filing of this report.
The rescue operations are ongoing.
