New Delhi: To boost exports, the government on Tuesday announced rates of tax refunds under the export promotion scheme RoDTEP for 8,555 products, such as marine goods, yarn, dairy items. The government has set aside Rs 12,454 crore for refunds under the Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products (RoDTEP) scheme for the current fiscal, a top official said. Under the RoDTEP, various central and state duties, taxes, and levies imposed on input products, among others, would be refunded to exporters.
Commerce Secretary B V R Subrahmanyam said that Rs 19,400 crore would be available for 2021-22 for both the RoDTEP and the Rebate of State and Central Taxes and Levies (RoSCTL). The RoSCTL scheme was announced for the export of garments and apparels. For the RoDTEP scheme, the amount is Rs 12,454 crore and the remaining Rs 6,946 crore for RoSCTL. As the RoDTEP scheme came into effect from January 1 this year, additional funds will be provided at pro-rata basis for the period January to March.
"Today we have notified the rates. RoDTEP is going to be a long-lasting scheme and it is going to be a flagship scheme of the commerce ministry. It is also compliant to the World Trade Organisation," the secretary told reporters here. He added that both the schemes together would cover 95 per cent of the tariff lines or goods and exports. However, three sectors of steel, chemicals and pharmaceuticals would not get the benefit of RoDTEP as they have "done well without" incentives.
The reimbursement of taxes such as duty on power charges, VAT on fuel in transportation, farm sector, captive power generation, mandi tax, stamp duty and central excise duty on fuel used in transportation would make Indian products competitive in global markets, he said. The tax refund rates range from 0.5 per cent to 4.3 per cent for various sectors. The rebate under the scheme would not be available in respect of duties and taxes already exempted or remitted or credited.
RoDTEP support will be available to eligible exporters at a notified rate as a percentage of Freight On Board (FOB) value. Rebates on certain export products will also be subject to value cap per unit of the exported product. It will be implemented by Customs through a simplified IT System. Rebates will be issued in the form of a transferable duty credit/ electronic scrip (e-scrip) which will be maintained in an electronic ledger by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC).
Employment-oriented sectors like marine, agriculture, leather, gems and jewellery are covered under the scheme. Other segments like automobile, plastics, electrical / electronics, machinery are also getting the support. The ministry also notified scheme guidelines for RoDTEP. According to the guidelines, certain categories which would not avail the benefits include export goods which are subject to minimum export price, restricted and prohibited items, deemed exports, supplies of goods manufactured by domestic tariff area units to SEZs, and products manufactured or exported by units situated in special economic zones.
RoDTEP rates to give predictability, liquidity to exports
The announcement of the RoDTEP rates will help in easing liquidity and enhance the competitiveness of domestic exporters over a long-time horizon, FIEO said after the notification. Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) President A Sakthivel said the commerce ministry should quickly upload the rates in the system so that exporters can generate their scrips instantly for utilising the benefits under the scheme. He, however, urged the government to include pharma, chemicals, iron and steel under the RoDTEP scheme from January 1, 2021.
These sectors are not covered under the ambit of the scheme, rates for which was notified today. "Since the rates are fixed on the basis of the data furnished by the industry, which was also affected due to the pandemic, the rates may be reviewed if more comprehensive and updated data is furnished by the industry," he said.
Exports are on course to achieve USD 400 billion in the current fiscal, but logistics challenges, particularly unavailability of containers, shut out by shipping lines and high freights pose a "serious challenge", he added. He requested the government to take suitable measures so that these hiccups can be overcome.
(With PTI Inputs)
