Govt to Notify RoDTEP Rates by Friday, Commerce Secretary BVR Subrahmanyam said

The much-awaited tax refund rates under the Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products (RoDTEP) scheme would be notified as early as August 13, Commerce Secretary BVR Subrahmanyam said on Wednesday, 12 August, 2021. The move will help exporters better firm up their contracts, factoring in the tax reimbursement.

The RoDTEP scheme is supposed to reimburse various embedded levies (not subsumed by the goods and services tax) paid on inputs consumed in exports, which are not refunded now. It replaced the Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS) from January 1, 2021, but the refund rates are yet to be announced. A similar scheme for garment and made-up exporters — RoSCTL – will be notified “today or tomorrow”, he said.

Speaking at a CII event, Subrahmanyam said the government would launch a new scheme in the coming months to transform key districts into export hubs. Under this, districts will be incentivised to compete with one another in catalysing investments to the export sector.

Given the robust trade and industrial recovery globally, the secretary exuded confidence that India’s exports will record impressive growth in FY22 and hit the ambitious target of $400 billion. The government aims to scale up merchandise exports to as high as $1 trillion by FY28 and services exports to $700 billion. Even in the best of the years, merchandise exports had hit $330 billion (in FY19) and services exports $213 billion (in FY20).

“The US is growing at the fastest pace probably since the second World War. Our trading partners, including Europe, are growing fast. The rest of the world has an opportunity to plug into this growth,” Subrahmanyam said.

The secretary also exhorted India Inc not to sit on excess cash reserves but to raise investments to be able to take advantage of strong growth in India’s key export markets.

To realise the lofty export targets, the government plans to create a market intelligence network by using the service of its 140 embassies and 60 consulates globally. “All of them have a commercial wing with a minister, counsellor or attache. No one has been asking them what you do,” Subrahmanyam said. Now, these officers have been asked to identify export opportunities in the countries they are stationed in and report trade barriers there.

The government will also roll out a “Brand India” campaign later this fiscal to raise awareness about its product quality abroad.

To ease the process of de-notifying unutilised land across 250-odd special economic zones, the government will soon come out with rules.

The secretary stressed the government’s commitment to not just support MSMEs but large firms as well. The production-linked incentive schemes, he said, represent a departure from the past. “For the first time, rather than looking to promote only MSMEs, the government has taken a step forward to promote large scale industrial production. This was unthinkable a decade ago,” he added.