Hindu
Sujay Mehdudia
NEW DELHI: In yet another stimulus package aimed at addressing the woes and concerns of exporters, the Union Government on Thursday unveiled sops to exports of leather, textiles, gems and jewellery and food product.
The Government also ‘officially’ scaled down the export target to $175 billion for this fiscal from the earlier target of $200 billion in view of the global slowdown. It also set $200-billion export target for 2014-10..
Unveiling the interim foreign trade policy, Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath said the sops included a Rs. 325-crore special package for leather and textile sectors, removal of import curbs on gems and jewellery, relaxation in export obligations and a five-per cent duty credit for exports of handmade carpet under the Focus Product Scheme against 3.5 per cent given earlier.
Mr. Nath said export incentives had been provided for certain items such as technical textiles, stapling machines, handmade carpets and dried vegetables.
Minister of State for Industry Ashwini Kumar and Commerce Secretary G. K. Pillai were present on the occasion.
EPCG scheme
Mr. Nath said the slab for Premier Trading Houses based on export turnaround had been reduced to Rs. 7,500 crore from Rs. 10,000 crore. Under the Export Promotion Capital Goods scheme, in case of decline of exports of the products by more than five per cent, the export obligation for all exporters of those products would be reduced proportionately.
He said that from now on, for import of precious metals STCL, Diamond India, MSTC, the Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council and Star Trading House had been added as official agencies. Import restrictions on worked corals had been removed to address the grievances of gems and jewellery exporters. Authorised persons of gems and jewellery units in export oriented units (EOUs) would be allowed personal carriage of gold in primary form up to 10 kg in a financial year.
The procedural formalities for claiming duty drawback refund and refund of terminal excise duty for deemed exports had been further simplified and reimbursement of additional excise duty levied on fuel would also be admissible for EOUs.
Bhilwara in Rajasthan and Surat in Gujarat had been recognised as towns of export excellence, for textiles and diamonds.
In a measure to improve health infrastructure, Mr. Nath said export of blood samples was now permitted without licence after obtaining the ‘no objection certificate’ from the Director General of Health Services
