Delay in announcement of rates under RoDTEP to impact exports: FIEO

Apex exporters body FIEO on Friday asked the government to announce the rates for different sectors under the tax refund scheme RoDTEP as further delay will have serious implications for future exports.

Last month, the government had said that it has decided to extend the benefit of Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products (RoDTEP) scheme to all goods, with effect from January 1, 2021.

The rates have to be notified by the Department of Commerce, which would be based on the recommendation of a committee chaired by G K Pillai, former commerce and home secretary.

Initiatives like RoDTEP are aimed at providing continued support to the industry, this requires immediate announcement of the rates as in absence of that, exporters are not able to do their export costing with a view to finalise new contracts, Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) President Sharad Kumar Saraf said in a statement.

Any further delay will have serious implications for future exports as exporters are in ‘wait and watch mood’ before finalising new contracts particularly in sectors having thin margins, he added.

In March, the government had approved the RoDTEP scheme for reimbursement of taxes and duties to exporters, with a view to give a boost to the country’s dwindling outbound shipments.

The scheme would refund to exporters the embedded central, state and local duties and taxes that were so far not being rebated or refunded and were, therefore, placing India’s exports at a disadvantage.

On the Economic Survey 2021, Saraf said the country is set to end with a current account surplus ofplus 2 per cent of the GDP after 2003-04.

The better than expected recovery both globally and internally provides a huge opportunity for India to push its exports in pharma, medical equipment, PPE kits, technical textiles, food and processing products, steel, plastics, chemicals and iron and steel, he added.