Bangalore: The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) on October 22 said that the recent free trade agreements (FTA) with certain countries have led to cheaper inputs being available for import from abroad, which rendered domestic input goods and intermediaries' manufacturers uncompetitive.

Raising this issue with the Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) L Mansingh at an interaction in Bangalore, CII officials asked the government to reduce the painful effects of these anomalies, though the free trade agreements in themselves are unavoidable.

"Costs of inputs like power and also transaction costs should be factored in while framing FTA and establish strict Country of Origin rules, to prevent misuses as dumping practices take place," CII said in a statement.

It also raised concerns on the appreciating Rupee and said Indian exports was becoming uncompetitive, especially in the light of controlled exchange rates adopted by some of the country's traditional rivals (China) in world trade.

Mansingh said India could achieve its target of one per cent share in world trade even before the target year of 2007.

"India has still not reached its desired level of dominance in world trade. Official statistics from the government show an encouraging picture, particularly in merchandise exports," he said.

"We are therefore in the process of getting feedback from industry on the various aspects that the EXIM policy for 2004 could address in bringing this about," he said.

PTI