Export Import Management - Assistance to States for Developing Export Infrastructure and Allied Activities (ASIDE) Scheme

Assistance to States for Developing Export Infrastructure and Allied Activities (ASIDE) Scheme

Scheme for Assistance to States for Developing Export Infrastructure and Allied Activities (ASIDE) is formulated to involve the States in the export effort by providing assistance to the States Governments for creating appropriate infrastructure for the development and growth of exports. The Scheme is administered by Department of Commerce (DoC).

The objective of scheme is to establish a mechanism for involving the State Governments to participate in funding of infrastructure critical for growth of exports by providing export performance linked financial assistance to them.

The activities aimed at development of infrastructure for exports can be funded from the scheme provided such activities have overwhelming export content and their linkage with exports is full established. The specific purposes for which funds allocated under the Scheme can be sanctioned and utilized are as follows:

· Creation of new Export Promotion Industrial Parks/Zones (SEZs/Agri Business Zones) and augmenting facilities in the existing ones

· Setting up of electronics and other related infrastructure in export conclave

· Equity participation in infrastructure projects including the setting up of SEZs

· Meeting requirements of capital outlay of EPIPs/EPZs/SEZs

· Development of complementary infrastructure such as, roads connecting the production centres with the ports, setting up of Inland Container Depots and Container Freight Stations

· Stabilizing power supply through additional transformers and islanding of export production centre, etc.

· Development of minor ports and jetties to serve export purpose

· Assistance for setting up Common Effluent Treatment facilities

· Any other activity as may be notified by DoC.

The Ministry of Commerce and Industry, prior to the launch of ASIDE Scheme had been already implementing four Infrastructure Development Schemes i.e. the Export Promotion Industrial Park Scheme (EPIP), Export Promotion Zones Scheme (EPZ), the Critical Infrastructure Balancing Scheme (CIB) and the Export Development Fund (EDF) for the North-East States.

Salient Features of the Scheme

The objective of this scheme is to establish a mechanism for involving the State Governments to participate in funding of infrastructure critical for growth of exports by providing export performance linked financial assistance to them.

Under this scheme, the main focus is on the development of export infrastructure which is distributed among the States / UTs inter-alia on the twin of the export performance of the States/ UTs in the previous year (DGCI&S data) and population census 2011.

Some of the salient features of this scheme can be discussed as under:

• Creation of new Export Promotion Industrial Parks/Zones (including Special Economic Zones (SEZs)/Agri-Business Zones) and amplifying facilities in the existing zones.

• Meeting up with the requirements of capital outlay of EPIPs/SEZs.

• Setting up of electronic and other related infrastructure in export conclaves.

• Stabilizing power supply through additional transformers and secluding of export production centres, etc.

• Equity participation in infrastructure projects, including the setting up of SEZs.

• Activities permitted as per the export development fund in relation to the North Eastern States and Sikkim.

• Development of complementary infrastructure such as roads connecting the production centres with ports, setting up of inland container depots and container freight stations.

• Development of minor ports and jetties of a particular specification to serve exports.

• Assistance for setting up common effluent treatment plants.

• Projects of national and regional importance.