With goods exports declining for seven months in a row till this August, the government has extended support to outbound shipments by stretching the applicability of the Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products (RoDTEP) scheme for nine more months till June 30, 2024.
The extension comes even as the Revenue Department on Tuesday began a review of the export incentive scheme which provides a mechanism to reimburse taxes, duties and levies (at the central, state and local level) that are incurred by exporters in the production and distribution process and are not refunded under any other mechanism.
At the first review meeting, exporters’ bodies sought higher remission rates for all export items to secure more market access overseas along with Budget allocations for the scheme at the first meeting.
Under the RoDTEP scheme, which was introduced in January 2021 and notified till September 30 this year, exporters have been granted tax remission support worth ₹27,018 crore by March 2023. For 2023-24, a budget of ₹15,070 crores has been earmarked to support 10610 HS [Harmonised System for goods tariffs] lines at the 8-digit level, the Commerce Ministry said.
The scheme is being extended at the same rates that prevailed so far for different export items, and will help the exporting community to negotiate export contracts in the present international environment on better terms, the ministry said.
“The RoDTEP Committee has again been constituted in the Department of Revenue to review and recommend the ceiling rates under the RoDTEP Scheme for different export sectors. The Committee held its first interaction today with the export promotion councils and chambers of commerce and discussed the methodology and other issues relating to the Scheme and its implementation,” the ministry statement noted.
