Govt to clear exporters’ dues worth ~56,027 cr
The government will clear all arrears under various export-incentive schemes to help exporters address their liquidity concerns.
In pursuit of this, it will release ~56,027 crore this fiscal year, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Thursday.
The claims include those pertaining to the Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS), Services Exports from India Scheme (SEIS), Rebate of State Levies (ROSL), Rebate of State and Central Taxes and Levies (ROSCTL), and other scrip-based schemes related to past policies.
Clearing their dues has been a long-standing demand of exporters.
Pending tax refunds under the Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products (RODTEP), the scheme that replaced the MEIS on January 1 for exports made during the January-march quarter of 2020-21, will be cleared.
Similarly, the dues under the ROSCTL scheme, aimed at supporting the textile sector, will also be cleared for the last quarter of the previous fiscal year.
The move is expected to benefit 45,000 exporters, of which about 98 per cent are micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMES). The development comes at a time when there has been a recovery in key western markets, which has resulted in a consistent rise in demand for goods from India.
“With these measures, our exporters will have a level playing field to compete with global players and help achieve aggressive targets that have been set ... I am confident that today’s decision will help us further speed up
our exports,” Goyal told reporters.
An official statement said: “This decision to clear all pending export incentives within this financial year will lead to even more rapid export growth in coming months.”
Currently, the dues are ~33,010 crore under the MEIS; ~10,002 crore under the SEIS; ~5,286 crore under the ROSCTL scheme; ~330 crore under the ROSL scheme; and ~2,568 crore under the RODTEP scheme.
Other legacy schemes such as Target Plus will account for ~4,831 crore. The amount that will be refunded is over and above duty remission of ~12,454 crore for the RODTEP scheme and ~6,946 crore for ROSCTL scheme, announced over the last two months of 2021-22.
For merchandise exports, all sectors covered under the 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. Services sector exporters, including those in the travel, tourism and hospitality segments, will be able to claim SEIS benefits for 2019-20, for which ~2,061 crore has been provisioned.