RoDTEP Announcement likely in 2 Weeks, says DGFT

· The Refund Rates for various Product Categories are yet to be Finalised by the Finance Ministry and Commerce Ministry

Director General of Foreign Trade Amit Yadav on Friday, 14 May 2021 said that an announcement on the Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products (RoDTEP) scheme is likely in the next two weeks even as the government tries to chalk a mechanism to pay the pending claims under the erstwhile Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS).

“In the two weeks, we will have an announcement on RoDTEP. We are trying on how to get the base of RoDTEP enlarged. There is an impact budgetary side be it collections or expenditure. There is stress on expenditure and demand and challenges on revenue,” he said at a virtual event organised by the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

The scheme, which replaced the MEIS, is yet to be implemented because of the absence of rate of benefits. The refund rates for various product categories are yet to be finalised by the finance ministry and commerce ministry.

On MEIS, he said the window to file claims for 2019-20 are open and more than 5,000 Importer-Exporter Code holders have got their scrips issued. For 2020-21, he said the government is looking at various options such as a bill of discounting kind of mechanism that can be made cashable next year.

“We are talking to the finance ministry but there are fiscal constraints,” Yadav said.

He also said that India’s exports in April grew 16% over April 2019 to $30 billion and the growth continued in the first week of May.

“Our exports in April grew 16% over April 2019 and we continue to see growth in the first week of May,” he said, adding that the outbound shipments were 197% higher than April 2020 and the major commodities that witnessed an export growth were engineering, gems and jewellery, organic and inorganic chemicals, drugs and pharmaceuticals and readymade garments.

“No major commodity registered negative growth because last year was an aberration, especially April,” he said.

While last year, there were issues of movement of goods, abandoned trucks and untraceable drivers, there is no pan-India lockdown now and most states have not stopped industry functioning, he said.

On certain sections of the steel industry that have sought a ban on exports, Yadav said “We need to be careful on what we ban. Commerce can only facilitate but the ultimate decision is with the finance ministry. Our policy is not to ban exports”.

He said the steel ministry is working on the issue.

Yadav also said that Service Export from India Scheme is a challenge.

“We are still hopeful for an outlay but I don’t want to promise anything at this point of time,” he said.

Stating that stability and certainty are key for industry, Yadav said the government has reduced unpredictability and extended the foreign trade policy.

“We are looking at various export schemes, streamlining them and bringing new schemes. Some schemes are going away…MEIS and SEIS are there and RoDTEP is a big anxiety,” he said.

The DGFT helpdesk to resolve traders’ Covid-19 related concerns, has addressed 50% of the issues as unlike last year when a national lockdown was in place, the centre now has to approach states to resolve issues and it is scattered. Yadav said that issues have been identified in trade where compliance burden needs to be reduced by August 15.