Rates for the tax refund scheme for exporters -- Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products (RoDTEP) -- are expected to be announced in the coming two weeks, a senior official said on Friday.
Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) Amit Yadav said it is working with the finance ministry on the scheme.

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Last year, the government approved the RoDTEP scheme for reimbursement of taxes and duties to exporters, with a view to give a boost to the country's outbound shipments. The scheme was implemented for all goods, with effect from January 1.

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"My sense is that in the coming two weeks, we would be in a position to have an announcement of the rates for RoDTEP," he said at a PHDCCI webinar.

Apex exporters' body the Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) has time and again asked the government to announce the rates for different sectors under the scheme as delay would have implications for future exports.

The rates have to be notified by the Department of Commerce, which would be based on the recommendation of a committee chaired by G K Pillai, former commerce and home secretary.

Yadav said due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been an impact on both tax collections and expenditure and there is also the challenge of revenue.

On the Merchandise Export from India Scheme (MEIS), the DGFT said it is working with the Department of Revenue on the issue.

"We have proposed to the revenue department that if the MEIS scrips can be issued, which can be encashable a year after... Something (on these lines) we are working on," he said.

The MEIS ended in December last year, but there are issues about exports which happened under the scheme during 2019-20 and 2020-21.

For 2019-20, he informed that over 5,000 IEC (import export code) holders have received their scrips and large amounts have already been disbursed or claimed.

But "there was an issue with regard to exports during 2020-21 and on that front, we are looking at various options. We are working on something which can be a bill of discounting kind of thing," Yadav added.

Under MEIS, the government used to provide duty benefits depending on product and country. Rewards under the scheme were payable as a percentage of realised free-on-board value and MEIS duty credit scrip can be transferred or used for payment of a number of duties, including the basic customs duty.

He added that SEIS (Service Exports from India Scheme) is a "challenge, but we have been batting" and "we are still hopeful for an outlay for 2019-20...We are pushing up the envelope."
The Foreign Trade Policy provides tax incentives under the SEIS to several services industries.

Depending on the nature of services, the government gives duty credit scrips or certificates. The scheme offers reward at 5 per cent or 7 per cent of net foreign exchange earned and covers service providers located in India.

On the Foreign Trade Policy (FTP), the DGFT sought suggestions from the industry. Due to the pandemic, the policy was extended for six months till September.

"Now we are looking at it from a different perspective. We are looking at how we can streamline them (various export schemes), how we can bring in new schemes which can address the need and demand of exports especially when some of the schemes (like MEIS and SEIS) are going away," he added.

Further, he said the commerce ministry is also looking at issues such export financing and insurance premium.

On questions raised by PHDCCI members about rising steel prices, he said: "I am aware that the steel ministry is working on this aspect."