Govt to settle claims of 45K exporters

NEW DELHI : The government is targeting  $400 billion merchandise exports in FY22 as demand grows for Indian goods. In a big boost to the exporters, government has decided to release pending claims worth Rs. 56,027 crore in FY22 for merchandize as well as service exports under various export promotion schemes. This is expected to benefit more than 45,000 exporters out of which about 98% belong to the MSME category. 

The commerce ministry in a statement said a decision to clear all pending export incentives within this financial year despite other budgetary commitments arising out of the pandemic was taken with the objective of providing timely and crucial support to this vital pillar of Indian economy. Government has set a target of achieving $400 billion merchandise exports in FY22 amid growing demand for Indian goods in developed countries.  

 “The last one and half years have been quite stressful because of covid. Revenues have also been stressed and there was a concern about large amounts due to our exporters under various schemes which had not been cleared during the covid period. This will come as a very big relief in almost all sectors. It will have a transformational impact on exporters’ cash flow,” trade minister Piyush Goyal said briefing reporters.  

This amount includes claims relating to Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS), Service Exports from India Scheme (SEIS), Rebate of State Levies (RoSL), Rebate of State and Central Taxes and Levies (RoSCTL) and other scrip based schemes relating to earlier policies. This also includes support for Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products (RoDTEP) and Rebate of State and Central Taxes and Levies (RoSCTL) for exports made in the March quarter of FY21.  

MEIS has the largest claim of ₹33,010 crore, followed by SEIS ( ₹10,002 crore), RoSCTL ( ₹5,286 cr), RoDTEP ( ₹2,568 crore), RoSL ( ₹330 crore) and other legacy schemes like Target Plus etc ( ₹4,831 crore). This amount is over and above duty remission amount of ₹12,454 crore for the RoDTEP scheme and ₹6,946 crore for RoSCTL scheme already announced for exporters for FY22. 

 Exports in India have seen robust growth in recent months. Merchandise exports for April-August was nearly $164 billion, growing at 67% over FY21 and 23% over FY20. Government expects this decision to clear all pending export incentives within this financial year will lead to even more rapid export growth in coming months. 

“For merchandise exports, all sectors covered under MEIS, such as pharmaceuticals, iron and steel, engineering, chemicals, fisheries, agriculture and allied sectors, auto and auto components would be able to claim benefits for exports made in earlier years. Benefits would help such sectors to maintain cash flows and meet export demand in international market, which is recovering fast this financial year,” the commerce ministry said in a statement.  

Service sector exporters, including those in the travel, tourism and hospitality segments will be able to claim SEIS benefits for the last year of the scheme–FY20–for which ₹2,061 crore has been provisioned. “The SEIS for FY20 with certain revisions in service categories and rates is being notified,” the statement said.  

Source : mint