Chennai, Feb 20 (ANI): Union Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma has said the impact of recession on the country’s trade and industry is over as the industrial growth has been the best in the last fifteen years and exports have also moved towards positive trends.

Talking to reporters here on the sidelines of the International Seafood Show-2010, Sharma said: “The industrial production too has shown very strong recovery. It has gone into double digits in November and December India’s industrial growth has been the best in the last 15 years. The industry grew at 16.8 percent.”

“The exports moved into positive territory in October but that was on a low base of the last year and thereafter the December and January figures have been very encouraging. There is double digit positive growth,” he added.

Calling for an increased thrust on value addition in seafood exports, he urged the exporters to graduate from semi-processed raw materials to processed foods. He pointed out that the Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA) planned to increase exports from the current two billion dollars to four billion dollars by 2012 and six billion dollars by 2017.

Asia’s third largest economy has been showing signs of a strong revival after industrial output in December surged 16.8 percent, its fastest pace on record.

The country’s exports rose to an annual 18.2 percent in November to 13.2 billion dollars, the first rise after 13 months of annual decline.

The Indian economy is expected to grow at the rate of 7.5 percent and perhaps it may reach 8 percent plus in the next fiscal year. (ANI)