Commerce Minister to Meet Exporters on September 11 to Discuss
Measures to Push Export
·
MEIS Case Decision at WTO Due this
Month
To
push languishing exports on a higher growth track, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal has called a meeting
of stakeholders, including export bodies, to give suggestions on trade policy
instruments that could stimulate development.
“There
is an urgency in the Commerce Ministry on the need to take decisions that would
boost export growth. The meeting called by the Minister on September 11 will
focus on measures that could be taken to aid exports and spur development,” a
government official said.
The
urgency stems from the fact that the Indian economy has slowed down to a
six-year low. Exports, too, have declined in the first four months of the
fiscal with July figures showing a meagre growth of 2.25 per cent. “The
government recognises the fact that a good
performance in exports is important for the GDP to show robust growth. A lot
more needs to be done to encourage exports,” the official said.
The
Commerce Minister wants to get inputs from the exporting community on the
measures and trade instruments that could lead to a possible increase in
outbound shipments from their particular sectors.
For
instance, yarn and fabric exporters, who have witnessed a sharp fall in exports
over the last few months, have been demanding extension of the new Rebate of
State and Central Taxes and Levies (RoSCTL) beyond
garments and made-ups for the entire textile chain.
Exporters
say that with competition from producers in Bangladesh and Vietnam increasing,
they will not be able to sustain their presence in the global market if the
government doesn’t refund all input taxes.
Exporters
of engineering goods, too, have sought government support. The sector, which
has traditionally been on the top of the country’s export charts, has witnessed
a fall in exports in the first quarter of the fiscal mostly due to shrinking
global demand.
Engineering
exporters’ body EEPC has asked the Centre to take immediate measures like
faster refund of State and Central taxes and also make
steel available at international prices.
With
India’s per capita Gross National Income crossing the threshold limit of $1000,
the country may not be able to continue its export subsidy schemes such as the
popular Merchandise Export from India Scheme (MEIS) for long.
The
Centre, therefore, also needs to finalise viable
incentive schemes for exporters that are not linked to
exports.
India’s
exports in April-July 2019-20 contracted 0.37 per cent to $107.41 billion.