Webinar on ‘Will DESH Scheme catalyse India’s integration into GVCs?’

Trade Promotion Council of India organised a webinar on the topic ‘Will DESH Scheme catalyse India’s integration into GVCs?’ on August 10. The panel discussed the provisions in the DESH Scheme draft released by the government, what the industry can expect, and its potential in driving greater investments and generating employment, particularly in the manufacturing sector. 

Trade Promotion Council of India organised a webinar on the topic ‘Will DESH catalyse India’s integration with GVCs?’ on August 10. The webinar was organized in context of the Development of Enterprise and Service Hubs (DESH) Scheme draft that has been released by the government to replace SEZ Act 2005. 

The Scheme aims to replace the SEZ Act 2005 and make the rules governing SEZs more WTO compliant, while also attracting greater foreign investment through creation of large industrial manufacturing zones with world class infrastructure.

Following is the detail of panelists who were a part of this discussion:

• Alex Paul Menon IAS, Joint Development Commissioner, MEPZ Special Economic Zone 
• Sunil Rallan, Chairman and Managing Director, J Matadee Free Trade Zone Pvt Ltd 
• Sasikumar Gendham, MD, Salcomp Manufacturing India Private Ltd. 
• Dr Arpita Mukherjee, Professor, ICRIER & Member, Committee for Advanced Trade Research, TPCI

The webinar was moderated by Virat Bahri, Deputy Director, Trade Promotion Council of India.

 

Focus areas covered under the webinar were as follows:

• Key provisions in the DESH draft bill, and how it compares to SEZ 2005. 
• Expectations on how DESH will boost trade and investment, and accelerate India’s integrate India into global value chains 
• Incentives that manufacturing and services companies can expect from DESH 
• How DESH zones will operate vis-à-vis conventional industrial zones in India

The panel was unanimous that India is presently at a sweet spot, being the most attractive destination for relocation of Global Value Chains, making the DESH scheme both timely and relevant. They also felt that with proper implementation, the Scheme would certainly improve India’s attractiveness for trade and investment, thereby boosting the economy and providing large-scale employment.