Maran calls for new initiatives in brand promotion

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, JUNE 9. The Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Mr. Murasoli Maran, has called for new policy initiatives to ensure effective brand promotion of Indian goods and services abroad under the India Brand Equity Fund (IBEF) scheme.

The Minister reviewed the on-going implementation of the scheme at a presentation in the Ministry today and directed officials to look into the various aspects of the scheme to optimise its impact.

The issue before the IBEF included raising a corpus of Rs. 500 crores and developing a professional outfit for furthering the IBEF objectives in partnership with trade and industry.

It also included the possibility of convergence with the other export promotion schemes such as the Market Development Assistance (MDA) so the scheme could have a significant impact in terms of enhancing the market access for Indian products through the promotion of brands.

Mr. Maran said a few flagship products along with niche markets for such products should be identified as part of a concerted effort to promote the Made in India brand.

The Commerce Secretary, Mr. Prabir Sengupta, participated in the meeting along with Mr. S. B. Mohapatra, Additional Secretary, and other senior officials. Mr. Sengupta felt there could be a brainstorming session with a few leading representatives of trade and industry and the exporting community as a prelude to formulating possible new strategies for brand promotion. It was also decided that brand promotion would be discussed at the next meeting of the Board of Trade which is scheduled for July.

The IBEF came into being with the registration of the IBEF Trust in July 1996. The corpus of the fund is around Rs. 125 crores as on date. Lending from the corpus is mainly from its interest earnings, which amount to around Rs. 16 crores, which is available for giving as soft loans for brand promotion.

So far, around Rs. 12 crores have been spent under the scheme. Among the companies assisted by IBEF are HMT International, KG Denim and International Creative Foods, which has acquired two brands of marine products in the U.S.

A Commerce Ministry release says, the IBEF was conceived with the primary objective of brand promotion in overseas markets and making the Made in India label a symbol of quality, reliability and service.

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