- Union Minister of Finance & Corporate Affairs has informed Rajya Sabha about the Surjit Bhalla Committee on Trade and Policy.
- The Union commerce ministry had constituted a high-level advisory group on Foreign trade policy.The group has submitted its report to the government.
- The panel has recommended the centre to cut down corporate tax rate and set a target to double the exports by 2025.
- The Committee has recommended Elephant Bonds as a specialised security product providing funds towards Long Term Infrastructure.
- Elephant Bonds will be a 25-year sovereign bonds in which people declaring undisclosed income will be bound to invest 50%.The fund will be utilised only for infrastructure projects.
- The suggestions made by the group also includes (a)creating pan India Tourism board and medical tourism campaign (b)modify labour laws to remove the limitation on firm size and (c)establish industrial parks to cater to the needs of electronics manufacturing.
- Besides,the group has recommended (a)increasing capital base of EXIM Bank by another Rs 20,000 crore by 2022 (b)setting up of empowered investment promotion agency and (c)seeking input from industry and MSMEs before signing free trade agreements(FTAs).
Surjit Bhalla Committee on Trade and Policy
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