The government will award a total of 176 tradespeople CIP (commercially important person) cards for the year 2018.
To this effect, a gazette was published on December 08. Earlier, the commerce ministry issued an official order.
The recognition will be given to business persons for their extraordinary performance and contribution under export and trade categories.
Commerce minister Tipu Munshi will hand over the cards to the recipients at an award ceremony.
Of the awardees, 138 will receive the status for outstanding performance in the export category in 2018.
Thirty-eight FBCCI directors (picked from different business chambers and trade bodies) will get the cards under trade category as ex-officio members.
A total of 136 out of 182 tradespeople got the status for their outstanding performance in the export of different products in 2017.
On the other hand, 46 got the cards in the ex-officio category of different trade chambers and bodies.
The facilities a CIP cardholder enjoys include priority in seat reservations in airlines, rail, road and waterway transport.
A CIP also gets a letter of introduction from foreign ministry for travelling abroad.
They get special passes to enter the secretariat, use special stickers on their cars and get invitations to attend some public functions.
The CIPs and their dependants also get cabins in hospitals on a priority basis.
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