Uttar Pradesh ropes in PwC for identifying product categories for world exports

LUCKNOW: Uttar Pradesh is eyeing grabbing a major share in the world supply of select product categories totalling more than $260 billion in world exports, thus taking advantage of the "geo-politcal disturbances" that are disrupting the China-dominated supply chains of these products.
The state has roped in PricewaterhouseCoopers and has identified seven such product categories including ceramics, woven fabrics, trunk, suitcases and allied products, footwear, among others, where it can carve a position in world supply in the short term. In the long term, it continues to develop itself as a major force in the manufacturing and export of electronics, processed food and chemicals.

"With its inherent strength in the manufacturing of products like ceramics, woven textiles, footwear, suitcases, among others, UP is strategically placed to occupy their global supply chains that are being disrupted due to geo-political disturbances," UP MSME and export promotion minister Sidharth Nath Singh told ET. Citing an example, Singh said, Khurja, falling in the Bulandshahr district of the state specialises in making ceramics and has the potential to become a world supplier in the category. Khurja's ceramic pottery also enjoys a Geographical Indicator (GI) tag.

China controls 80% of the $10 billion world exports of ceramic bathware products, while 77% of the world's woven fabric exports worth $9 billion is dominated by the country.

The UK-based firm will help the state make its products more competitive for the world market by presenting ways to optimise labour and land, as well as also focus on packaging and branding of the products, and looking for suitable foreign buyers that may be willing to disengage with China.

The move by the state also follows rigorous interactions undertaken by the state over the last three months with representatives of at least eight countries including the United States, United Kingdom, Japan, South Korea, among others, offering them sops to shift their base out of China amid disruptions caused due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Uttar Pradesh currently exports products worth about Rs 1.20 lakh crore with carpets and apparels dominating its export basket.