Exporters get Rs.50,000 crore boost
In a bid to revitalize economic growth, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has announced a set of measures to boost the export sector on 14 Sept 2019.
India’s economic growth of 5% in the first quarter of 2019-20 was the lowest in over six years and followed by the International Monetary Fund cautioning that the country’s economic growth is much weaker than expected for this year.
The 14 September economic boost also aims to bring relief to a certain category of home buyers stuck with unfinished projects.
The Minister is given above Rs 50,000 crore for exporters mainly from the small and medium enterprises and Rs 10,000 crore for buyers whose flats are not before the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT).
Exporters will benefit from a new “Scheme for Remission of Duties or Taxes on Export Product (RoDTEP)”, tapping on the Rs.50,000 crore.
RoDTEP, finalized in June, replaces the existing Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS), which was found to be not compliant with World Trading Organisation (WTO) norms and had led to the US filing several cases before the WTO Appellate Tribunal.
A Free Trade Agreement Utilisation Mission, led by a senior officer in Commerce Department, will work with Federation of Indian Export Organizations and export houses to best implement concessional tariffs in each FTA, said Sitharaman at her third successive press conference on boosting economic growth.
An inter-ministerial working group has also been formed to monitor export finance, she told reporters.
Sitharaman also announced four mega festivals of gems and jewellery, textiles, leather and yoga from small and medium enterprises to be held next year. Modelled on the Dubai shopping festivals, the events would showcase the products and boost sales.
A Rs.10,000 crore special vehicle, with matching amount from other sources that have not yet been identified, will benefit about 3.5 lakh housing units that have not been completed but whose builders are not in non-performing asset category (and therefore not before the NCLT). Around 5 lakh dwelling units in the hands of NCLT.
Other steps announced covered a fully automated electronic refund for Input Tax Credits (ITC) in GST, revised priority sector lending norms for exports and expanding the scope of Export Credit Insurance Scheme (ECIS). fiinews.com
