Mumbai: The government has extended  income tax exemption to the 100 per cent export oriented units (EOUs) by an year till 2010 and announced a slew of other measures to boost sagging exports.

Announcing the final installment of the five-year export-import policy, the government also moved to curtail overseas sales of steel and cement to ease inflationary pressures and check rising prices. The directorate general of foreign trade has issued a notification banning export of primary steel and cement.

Nath outlined a plan for enhanced incentives for export of value-added manufactured products and said the list of products eligible for such a scheme would be announced later.

The government will also set up an export promotion council for the telecom sector to raise exports from the sector, which is expected to exceed Rs10,000 crore ($2.5 billion) by 2011.

Nath also announced special sops for export of sports goods, toys, fruits and vegetables.

He said interest subsidies for many exports would continue for another year, and there would be new incentives to promote exports of vegetables, sports goods, toys and computer hardware.

India produces 11 per cent of the world's vegetables and 15 per cent of its fruits, but accounts for only a mere 1.7 and 0.5 per cent respectively of world trade in those products, he pointed out.

The government, meanwhile, held talks with rice traders, who have been hit by an export ban on non-basmati rice.

Traders expect the government to allow exports of a superior grade of non-basmati rice, which may add nearly 300,000 tonnes to the tightly supplied international market.

They also expect the government to broaden the definition of basmati rice to include the high-yielding aromatic Pusa 1121 variety.

Nath said the country needs to build world-class infrastructure at a cost of $800 billion to facilitate trade, and would set up hubs for auto parts, drugs, petroleum and information technology but did not give any time frame.

India, he said, hopes to grab a five per cent share of global trade by 2020, given buoyant exports.