New Delhi, September 9 (Mayank Nigam) In a move set to provide liquidity and have multiplier effect, the government has decided to clear all pending dues of exporters worth Rs 56,000 crore on account of various export incentive schemes. More than 45,000 exporters out of which about 98 per cent are small exporters in the MSME category would receive their pending dues. Announcing the decision, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said that payment of all outstanding dues would help exporters to maintain cash flows and meet export demand in international market. “This support would have a multiplier effect and spur employment generation,” Goyal said.
Exporters had been demanding payment of their arrears on account of various export incentive and duty refund schemes such as Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS), Service Exports from India Scheme (SEIS), Rebate of State and Central Taxes and Levies (RoSCTL) and Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products (RoDTEP). The amount of Rs 56,027 crores of arrears comprise MEIS (Rs 33,010 crore), SEIS (Rs 10,002 crore), RoSCTL (Rs 5,286 crore), RoSL (Rs 330 crore), RoDTEP (Rs 2,568 crore) and other legacy Schemes like Target Plus etc (Rs 4,831 crore). “This amount is over and above duty remission amount of Rs 12,454 crore for the RoDTEP scheme and Rs 6,946 crore for RoSCTL scheme already announced for exports made in this year (FY22),” said a Commerce Ministry statement. Union Minister Goyal told reporters that government has decided to budget Rs 56,027 crore in this Financial Year (FY22) itself in order to disburse all pending export incentives due to exporters.