In lieu of falling exports, officials believe that the trade policies of Indian government are not offensive for auto makers as India is always busy with other nations to make sure that trade barriers are not affecting the growth of its shipments. However, the exports in passenger vehicle segment in November 2013 reported a fall of 13.5 per cent, amounting to 44,960 units under the review of 52,014 units delivered in year ago period. Also, the shipments of three-wheelers reduced by 14.3 per cent to 24,561 units, during the period.
S R Rao, Commerce Secretary, said that the ministry is solicitous over non-trade barriers, which are being imposed by few nations. “We certainly are concerned because it is tragic as the growth rate of the world trade is not picking up. We find more protectionist measures coming up worldwide. This is not unique to Latin America. The Department of Commerce is always engaged with each of these countries in ensuring that non-tariff barriers do not affect our exports growth,” he added later.
A source close to the development process revealed that the Indian auto exporters are going through few problems in nations like Algeria, Colombia and Sri Lanka. He said that Algerian government is now asking to incorporate environment and safety features in vehicles. Also, Colombia is raising few issues, which are unfavourable. It must be noted that these countries are significant export regions for the Indian automobile exporters. A reduction in their shipments is likely to affect the growth of India's overall exports, which has already narrowed to 5.86 per cent in November 2013.
