Picking up

New Delhi, May 8: The commerce ministry is planning to shift the focus of the Rs 650-crore export assistance scheme from the states in the west and south to the more backward ones in the Northeast, east and hilly regions of the country.

According to commerce ministry sources, as much as 75 per cent of the funds allocated for assistance to states for the development of infrastructure and marketing schemes for exports are cornered by Gujarat, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.

Bihar, for instance, has availed of only Rs 3 crore by way of allocation from these funds last fiscal.

Since these allocations are based on the proposals submitted by state governments and their export performance, the developed states are in a better position to corner the funds.

However, the government is keen that the northeastern states, Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttaranchal and Himachal get a larger share of these funds so that job-intensive exports such as plantation and horticulture get the benefit.

However, the ongoing allocations made to the developed states would continue.

The commerce ministry is also keen that the allocation for these schemes is doubled to around Rs 1,200 crore during the 11th Five-Year Plan to provide a boost for exports.

It is also keen to get the agricultural export zones going as the proposals floated two years ago have not taken off as yet.