New Delhi, November 8, 2016: The President, Shri Pranab Mukherjee inaugurated the Diamond Jubilee Celebrations of ECGC this afternoon at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi. The function was presided by Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman, Minister of State (I/C) for Commerce and Industry, Government of India while Smt. Rita Teaotia, IAS, Commerce Secretary, Government of India and Shri Ajay Kumar Bhalla, IAS, Director General of Foreign Trade, Government of India, were the guests of honour.
During the function, the President Shri Pranab Mukherjee, unveiled the Diamond Jubilee logo of ECGC and the Minister of State (I/C) for Commerce and Industry, released the Diamond Jubilee Journal and Stamp; the first copies of which were presented to the President. The Corporate Film which highlighted the achievements of ECGC and the role played by them in India’s export promotion was shown during the function.
The function was well attended by a large number of bankers, exporters, representatives of trade bodies and prominent people from the government, business and trade.
Smt. Teaotia welcomed the guests and outlined the crucial role played by ECGC in promotion of exports from India. She said that ECGC has evolved to meet the needs of the changing times. The organization has grown substantially over the years and its premium income had increased to Rs.1300 crores in FY16. It serves 9000 exporters directly and another 17000 exporters who are financed by banks to whom ECGC provides credit risk insurance.
The Minister of State (I/C) for Commerce and Industry, Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman, said that it was a matter of great pride that ECGC had grown to become one of the world’s leading credit risk insurance provider for exports and trade related services and ranked as the 5th largest credit insurer in the world in short term business. She emphasized the need for the country’s export to grow and to achieve that, the Indian exporters would need to explore new markets like Africa, Latin America and Far East since exports to developed economies have been at the same level or declining during the past couple of years. She also made a case for extending greater support so that it can play an even greater role in promoting exports.
The President in his address recalled the time when he was the Minister of Commerce and said that ECGC always had a record of taking initiatives and launching innovative products to meet the needs of the export community. He mentioned that in order to give a major boost to exports, the country’s exporters would have to be more competitive. He outlined the need for ECGC to extend support to exporters who are looking at these new markets, even though there would be a greater element of risk associated with trade with some of these countries.
All the speakers commended ECGC on the outstanding role that it played in the promotion of exports in India.
Smt. Geetha Muralidhar, Chairman-cum-Managing Director, ECGC Ltd. profusely thanked the Government, the Ministry of Commerce, the Board of Directors, past and present employees of ECGC, all of whom have played an important role in bringing it to the stature that it enjoys today.
About ECGC
ECGC was established in 1957 as India’s first organization to offer Credit Risk Insurance to exporters. Over the last six decades, ECGC has weathered many a storm and protected exporters in times of geopolitical turmoil, economic downturns and currency collapses. The Corporation has earned an international reputation and has grown to become the fifth largest Credit Risk Insurer in the world in short term business. ECGC’s growth has been commendable; its Total Business Covered has grown from Rs. 75 crore in FY1966 to Rs. 2,70,000 crores in FY2016.