Dharmendra Pradhan expresses concern over closure, merger of Odisha’s DGFT office, says it will have 'drastic impact on production and export'

Bhubaneswar: Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Wednesday expressed concerns over the closure and merger of Odisha’s Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) with the east zone office in Kolkata, asserting that it will have a “drastic impact on production and export”. [caption id=“attachment_6451711” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan. ANI[/caption] In a letter to Union commerce minister Piyush Goyal, Pradhan said that the merger would “jeopardise” the ease of doing business for exporters who will now have to travel to Kolkata to get clearance and processing. “This undesirable move will have a drastic impact on the production as well as the exporters of Odisha who will not be able to absorb the increase in logistic cash,” he stated in the letter. He sought Goyal’s “personal intervention” in the matter, keeping in mind the developmental needs of the state as an “export hub”.