Over the last year a lot has been said on how Export Promotion Councils are functioning or rather not functioning… When I go to Bangladesh, I can feel the impact which BGMEA has on the RMG sector and the confidence that the industry has on their functioning for the benefit of the trade. The same sense of confidence is missing in India… On the contrary most exporters do not even keep track of what the councils are up to and rarely do we see innovative export promotion activities… What we do see is the usual BSMs, exhibitions and some poorly attended seminars to update industry on various issues.
There are 10 Export Promotion Councils under the Ministry of Textiles… and two are for wool alone, besides innumerable trade/industry associations! Do we really need so many councils? Is the agenda of each really so different from each other, warranting a separate council altogether? How effective have these councils been in promoting the trade? Does the Government/Ministry take these councils’ suggestions seriously…? These are but a few questions that need to be explored honestly and transparently
The recent news that Commerce Secretary held deliberations with EPCs to seek views on promoting exports, wherein 27 Export Promotion Councils participated, is a good beginning to understand the need of various industries… but again, there is no one voice for the textile and apparel industry and often the interest of different councils clash on important issues… I am sure you all remember the mess created a few years ago because of the conflict of interest in yarn exports!
I have been talking to a lot of people on possible solutions, and suggestions are many…, but a few of the key areas that mostly all agreed on are as below:
- All the Export Promotion Councils should be merged as far as possible as there have been far too many councils fighting with each other on non-productive agenda generating useless papers for the Ministry and doing too little for export promotion by rationally merging the councils having similar agenda.
- Breaking of the nexus amongst the members of the EPCs is extremely important to ensure true participative democracy, transparency, accountability and good governance, as laid down in the Foreign Trade Policy 2015-20.
- All the stakeholders, meaning all the registered exporters, must have voting rights and must be engaged in the election process of the Management Committee members by making the election process transparent, fair, inclusive and participatory.
- There must be an additional ‘cooling off’ period of minimum three years for the members of the Management Committee after any member has continuously remained on the CoA/Executive Committee/Board of Governors/Board of Directors for three terms, in part or in full, continuously or for six years, whichever is lower. Also similar ‘cooling off’ must be made applicable to members having multiple memberships to more than one council or FIEO. The term of Chairman must be only once in lifetime, and fixed for two years term only.
- A senior officer of Joint Secretary rank from All India Services or Central Services must always be deputed as Secretary General to look into the working of Council and his tenure must be fixed to at least three years. He must be appropriately empowered with all financial delegation of powers and also be enabled by the Executive Committee to carry out routine administrative work as CEO of the council as defined under the companies Act 2013.
- Each EPCs’ targets must be fixed and their performance must be monitored by the Ministry concerned (Ministry of Textiles) on annual basis to make them perfectly accountable, apart from regular CAG audit which is also missing at present in many EPCs.
- The Management and Executive Committee role should be limited to offer professional advice to their members in areas such as technology upgradation, Trade advisories, Foreign Trade Policy changes suggestions, quality and design improvement, standards and specifications, product development, innovation, etc. They must not have any role, whatsoever, to decide the foreign trips/ tours/BSMs/Fairs/Exhibitions until and unless the same is approved by the Empowered Committee in the Ministry of Textiles so as to ensure that these visits are conducted with a purpose and their deliberations are recorded appropriately.
- The Management Committee members must be debarred from interfering in the day-to-day functions of the CEOs/SGs/EDs/and not allowed to interfere with the working of the Council with regard to award of works/tenders, etc.
- All EPCs must follow the GFRs as applicable to the Government of India without fail, remain covered under the ambit of the RTI Act, 2005 and must answer all RTI queries like the Government Ministries and Departments.
- With regard to the instances of serious complaints, a Grievance Redressal Committee must be formed under the Chairmanship of JS (Exports) to dispose of such complaints within time-bound manner.
As of now, the wish list for achieving the perfect council working in the interest of the industry is far from being fulfilled…, but the movement and awareness for change has come, and when will it become a storm, is awaited…!
Bharat Tex Special Report 2026 
