Expectations high as Seetharam Reddy likely to take charge of Vijayawada DGFT

Jayarama Emani | The Dollar Business G. Seetharam Reddy who has worked as the Joint Director of DGFT of Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam in the past is likely to be the new Joint Director of DGFT Vijayawada. According to sources from the exporters and importers from Vijayawada and the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), Reddy is keen to come back to the Andhra Pradesh region and is reportedly the choice of AP Chief Minister, N. Chandrababu Naidu. Reddy belongs to the Indian Trade Services (ITS) Batch of 1989. Meanwhile, exporters and importers have expressed their happiness on the news of a new DGFT office at Vijayawada. Speaking to The Dollar Business, Varun Reddy, Managing Director, Srinivasa Jewellery Mart, said, “Having a DGFT office in Vijayawada will help in processing of exports faster as we no longer need to go to Hyderabad or Chennai for processing of papers which used to consume lot of time for travel and procedures. It would be very useful if the government can think of setting up a port of entry and exit in the state.” Another exporter, K. Sridhar, Managing Director, Hari & Sridhar Jewellers Pvt. Ltd; welcoming the setting up of the new DGFT said, “Provision of IEC Code will make it simple for exporters and importers to either add or change items to be exported or imported and the new office should look into it.” Among the many complaints, the exporters and importers called for simplification of the procedures and making the DGFT Website more user-friendly. For example, any new Amendment can be made to blink or highlighted on the Website for the users to gain quick access. Since most of the exporters and importers in Vijayawada are Telugu (language) speaking people, they wanted a Website based on regional language. On the receipts front, the exporters wanted the new DGFT to show greater faith and belief in the local exporters rather than seeking information from the country to which the exports have been delivered. The State of Andhra Pradesh has tremendous export potential for natural resources (coal, limestone, bauxite, and a number of minor minerals). It has the second longest coastline (972 km) among all the States in India and it is also the largest producer of marine products with 40% share in country's exports. Andhra Pradesh is well connected with the rest of the world through its seaports on the eastern coast and the new DGFT office at Vijayawada in addition to the one at Visakhapatnam will hold significance because it will cater to eight districts of the State, while the Visakhapatnam DGFT office will take care of the five of the coastal districts. Andhra Pradesh leads the states in area and production of Rice, Citrus, Chilly, Oil Palm, Prawn, Egg, Broiler, and Meat. It is second in Fish, Mango, Tomato & Coriander, third in cotton, cashew; fourth in flowers and fifth in grapes, banana, ginger, and guava. There is large potential for production of variety of processed products too.  

This article was published on February 27, 2015.