India in good spot in terms of macroeconomic numbers, stability: DPIIT Secy 
India to have protocol for testing sports dietary supplements by next year: Sports Secy

India is in a very good spot right now when it comes to macroeconomic numbers, stability and decisiveness of its political leadership, said Mr Rajesh Kumar Singh, Secretary, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade(DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of India during the Annual General Meeting of SportscomIndustry Confederation on 27 September in New Delhi. 

“We are not only the world’s most populated country, but also the youngest. This, combined with the huge impetus to infrastructure given by the government, has ensured that we will have sustained 7-8 per cent, or even higher, growth rates in the coming decades. We are going to see huge increases in the size of our middle class and that will ensure that demand for all types of consumer goods, including sports goods, will be increasing,” he added.

Mr Singh assured to take up certain issues including reducing import duties on some of the intermediate and input materials and addressing anomalies in GST rates, among others. He suggested that manufacturers of sports goods take advantage of the Department of Commerce’s Market Access Initiative. 

Ms Sujata Chaturvedi, Secretary (Sports), Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports, Government of India said that India will have a protocol for testing all dietary supplements used for sports, hopefully by next year.

“There are two collaborations with eminent labs. National Forensic Science University, Ahmedabad is now at advanced stage of setting up a lab for testing of dietary supplements. We also have an MoU with National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER),Hyderabad,” Ms Chaturvedi said.

Mr Jalaj Dani, President, Sportscom Industry Confederation joined the interaction virtually.    During the interaction with the Sports Secretary, Mr Vivek Singh, Senior Vice-President, Sportscom Industry Confederation highlighted four immediate priorities for addressal including reverse charge mechanism; expanding the scope of CSR in sports; making Indian sports good manufacturing sector ‘aatmanirbhar’; and giving Industry status to sports. Mr Vidushpat Singhania, Treasurer, Sportscom Industry Confederation also urged the Government to amend the Companies Act to allow inclusion of community development activities around sports under CSR.

Mr Neeraj Jain, Whole Time Director, Cosco India Limited underlined some of the challenges faced by the sports sector including availability and scale in securing raw material and intermediates; slow adoption of technology and automation; and lack of product certifications due to high costs.  Other key speakers during the session were Mr Mukul Verma, Managing Director, Savi International and Mr Rishikesh Joshi, Secretary, Sportscom Industry Confederation.

New Delhi

27 September 2023