Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has said that India is trying to get duty-free access for a broad range of products, which are identified under the One District One Product (ODOP) initiative, under trade agreements.
Through the ODOP initiative, the government intends to convert each district into an export hub by identifying at least one product of that district that has huge export potential.
“We are doing free trade agreements (FTAs) where we are looking at duty-free access for all these products. So we can create international acceptance of these products,” Goyal said. Products including gold jewellery, handicrafts, handlooms and toys present huge opportunities for exporters.
Further, Goyal has suggested a five-point approach for the ODOP’s success. This includes developing one-stop gifting destinations with high-quality suppliers involving students of institutions like the National Institute of Design to boost design and imparting extensive training to artisans.
“Let us look at creating art and crafts villages at the G20 destinations across India. This can become the seed which will help artisans for years and help tourism, and will give visibility to ODOP,” Goyal said.
To make it a success, the commerce ministry is also addressing bottlenecks over shipping out of these products, supporting local entities to scale up manufacturing for exports, and identifying potential customers overseas.
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