Rs 1,500 crore incentives of Saurashtra exporters stuck for 18 months: RCCI

Rajkot: An incentive amount of a staggering Rs 1,500 crore of Saurashtra exporters eligible under the Merchandise Export from India Scheme (MIES) has been stuck for past 18 months, the Rajkot Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI) has stated.
In a detailed representation regarding problems being faced by exporters made to the union commerce ministry on Wednesday, RCCI sought immediate release of the incentives to boost exports.
The export of Rajkot’s engineering sector is positive but according to traders if the several problems are solved they are able to compete strongly at international level which will earn more dollars to the country and also increase the profit of exporters.
MEIS was repealed from January 1, 2021 but the government did not pay incentives under this scheme from April 1, 2020 to December 31, 2020. Under this scheme, the government was providing incentives of 3-5% on various products of export. The receipt of incentive was used in paying import duty and exporters were allowed to sell this receipt to importers.
The central government then replaced MEIS with Remission of Duties and Taxes on Export Products (RoDTEP), but the rate of refund under this scheme has not been announced. As a result, exporters don’t know how much benefit they will get and therefore they can’t quote prices to international buyers.
Parth Ganatra, vice-president, RCCI said, “Exporters of all commodities of Saurashtra, be it engineering, ceramics, brass etc, are facing this problem. We requested the government again to resolve these issues to boost the industry, especially when the economy is in distress due to the pandemic.”
RCCI also urged the ministry to immediately announce the rates under this scheme.
The representation stated that an unprecedented hike in freight charges and various raw materials are gnawing at their profits.