ODOP is seen as a transformational step towards realising the true potential of a district, fuelling economic growth, generating employment and rural entrepreneurship.
New Delhi: In order to convert each district of the country into a manufacturing and export hub by identifying products with export potential, the Centre has initiated the One District One Product (ODOP) across several states and the Union Territories of the country. The Centre’s initiative was informed by Minister of State in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry Som Parkash in a written reply in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday.
In a statement, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry said, “ODOP is seen as a transformational step towards realising the true potential of a district, fuelling economic growth, generating employment and rural entrepreneurship, taking us to the goal of Aatmanirbhar Bharat. ODOP initiative is operationally merged with ‘Districts as Export Hub (DEH)’ initiative of the DGFT, Department of Commerce, with the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) as a major stakeholder.”
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It added that the ODOP initiative is aimed at fostering a balanced regional development across all districts of the country enabling holistic socio-economic growth across all regions. “Institutional mechanism in the form of State Export Promotion Committees (SEPCs) and District Export Promotion Committees (DEPCs) have been constituted in 36 states and UTs to provide support for export promotion and address the bottlenecks for export growth in the districts,” the ministry said.
Districts Export Action Plans are prepared for identified products and services for overseas markets, which includes specific actions required to support local exporters and manufacturers in producing or manufacturing identified products in adequate quantity and with the requisite quality to reach potential buyers. “These plans also include identifying and addressing challenges for exports of such identified products or services, improving supply chains, market accessibility and handholding for increasing exports. So far, in about 557 districts, export plans have been prepared and in about 218 have been adopted by DEPCs,” the ministry informed.