NEW DELHI: Welcoming the much needed booster for the exports sector,
FIEO President, Mr Sharad Kumar Saraf said that the announcement made by
the Hon'ble Finance Minister Ms Nirmala Sitharaman has come at a time
when there are signs of worsening global economic conditions pointing
further toward downward revision of global trade growth. Slew of new
measures announced for the exports sector in the form of incentives
& refund of taxes, export finance, export facilitation, free trade
agreements, engineering and handicrafts will not only go a long way in
enhancing the growth prospects of the sector in the short-term but will
also give it a much needed boost in the medium-term and long-term and
will stimulate the overall economy added Mr Saraf.
FIEO Chief said that the new scheme of Remission of Duties or Taxes on
Export Products (RoDTEP) with revenue burden of up to Rs 50,000 crores
for the Government, will completely replace all Merchandise Exports from
India Scheme (MEIS) from January 1, 2020 with the expectation that the
new scheme will more than adequately incentivize the exporters than the
existing schemes put together. The new scheme looks attractive as it
will neutralise all duties and levies suffered by the export products.
Giving three months lead time till 31st December to the existing MEIS
will remove the uncertainty creeping in the minds of the exporters and
will greatly help to finalise their export orders, Mr Saraf said.
Further fully electronic refund module for quick and automated refund of
ITC by September, 2019 will help the exporting community in not only
speedy and timely refund of their GST but will also help them in getting
their long pending refund of their ITC thereby mitigating their working
capital requirements, said Mr Sharad Kumar Saraf.
Mr Saraf stated that besides measures taken to improve credit outflows
from banks and transmission of interest rate cuts being effected by
banks will go a long way in improving the cost and availability of
credit, as the flow of credit to this sector has been under pressure
since long. Expanding the scope of Export Credit Insurance Scheme (ESIC)
by ECGC will enable reduction in overall cost of export credit
including interest rates especially for MSMEs. The scheme will provide
much needed support for the exporters for exporting to countries with
little or more risks reiterated FIEO President.
Announcement on the revised Priority Sector Lending (PSL) norms for export credit, will release an additional Rs.
36,000 crore to Rs. 68,000 crore as export credit along with an active
monitoring by an inter-ministerial working group in the Department of
Commerce, tracked through a dashboard will also help in keeping track of
the overall export financing for the sector added FIEO Chief.
Mr Sharad Kumar Saraf also said that leveraging technology to reduce
turnaround time at ports and airports through seamless digitization
process of export clearances is also a welcome step, which will further
reduce transaction cost and time. Holding of annual mega shopping
festivals like Dubai Shopping Festival to will not only boost exports
but will also help in creating value for Brand India products from
labour-intensive sectors like Gems & Jewellery, Handicrafts, Yoga,
Tourism and Textiles.
President FIEO said that online "Original Managment System" for
exporters will enable them to obtain Certificates of Origin, which is
further expected to improve ease of doing business for exporters.
Time-bound adoption of mandatory technical standards will not only
elevate quality and performance, enhance competitiveness and address
issue of sub-standard imports but will also give boost to Indian
products overcoming non-tariff barriers. Besides initiative on
affordable testing and certification infrastructure will reduce cost of
adoption of standards and certification for meeting international
standards under different FTAs. Enabling handicrafts to effectively
harness e-commerce for exports has come as a special facilitating tool
for the artisans to sell their products globally.
And last but not the least, FIEO Chief is of the view that announcement
on the FTA utilization mission headed by senior officials from
Department of Commerce will be set up and will work with FIEO and other
export houses to utilize concessional tariff in each FTA. The initiative
which was one of the demand of the Federation will be able to enhance
awareness of preferential duty benefits MSMEs and disseminate and
facilitate compliance requirements under FTAs for both importers and
exporters.
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