Govt assures incentives to boost exports: Exporters

New Delhi: The government has assured that it will soon announce incentives, including extension of interest subsidy scheme, to boost exports, which are in negative zone since December last year, exporters said Wednesday.

The assurance was given to exporters during a meeting convened by the Commerce Ministry.

Addressing the meeting, Commerce Secretary Rita Teaotia informed that the allocation for export incentive schemes in the current financial year has been increased to Rs 21,000 crore from the earlier Rs 18,000 crore.

"She advised exporters to ensure timely submission of bills to get this credit," a Commerce Ministry statement said.

Teaotia assured them that their suggestions will be crystallised in a concrete form and specific actions would be taken by the Ministry to facilitate exporters, it said.

During the meeting, exporters raised issues which are hampering exports' growth like imposition of minimum alternate tax (MAT) on SEZs, high cost of credit and transactions cost.

Exporters said government should immediately take steps to control the decline otherwise it would be difficult to achieve the last year's figure of USD 310.5 billion and it may also lead to job losses.

Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) Vice-President Ramesh Kumar Agarwal said, "We have got assurance that the interest subvention scheme and more benefits under Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS) will soon be announced by the government".

Council for Leather Exports Chairman Rafeeq Ahmed said that if the declining trend continues, exports may fall by USD 50 billion this year.

He said in the leather sector already about 20,000 people have lost their jobs. About 24 lakh people are employed in the sector.

Echoing the views, Export Promotion Council for EOUs and SEZs Vice Chairman Rahul Gupta said special economic zones were contributing significantly in the country's total exports but imposition of MAT has severely impacted the shipments.

"We have urged the government to reduce MAT to 7.5 percent (from the current 18.5 percent) and announce more steps to revive investors' interest in these zones," Gupta said.

Further the statement said on suggestions for changes in the MEIS, Commerce Secretary pointed out that the Foreign Trade Policy was drawn after extensive deliberations and it may not be possible to make changes very frequently and go back on the scheme.

Teaotia said with the changing paradigms and dynamics of the export market, exporters should be flexible in responding to the changing economic scenario and should work in the spirit of give and take wherein getting access has to be complimented by giving access to markets.