Indian Minister of Commerce and Industry, Kamal Nath, on Thursday announced an export package comprising enhanced Duty Entitlement Pass Book (DEPB) rates to help Indian exporters who had recently suffered due to a rising rupee.
He stated that the new DEPB rates were expected to help sustain the export growth built upon the strength of a booming economy. He expressed hope that the package would neutralise the adverse impact of rising rupee on exports, which had been built upon the success of Indian economy achieved through export earnings in recent years.
In addition to the reduction in export realisation due to the rupee appreciation, it had been pointed out by the industry that several state taxes/levies ie, electricity duty, sales tax on petroleum products and CST were presently not rebated. It was also pointed out that due to the rupee appreciation, the value-addition prescribed in the DEPB calculation had in fact gone down, which would necessitate upward revision in the DEPB rates. Similarly, the value caps stipulated for various products for DEPB were stated to be unrealistic.
The package includes the following:
-- DEPB rates have been enhanced by 3 percent for 9 sectors ie textiles (including handloom), readymade garments, leather products, handicrafts, engineering products, processed agricultural products, marine products, sports goods and toys.
-- For the rest of the items, DEPB rates have been enhanced by 2 percent.
-- ECGC premium has been reduced by 10 percent of the existing premium rates.
-- To clear all arrears of terminal excise duties and CST reimbursement, an amount of around Rs 6 billion has been released.
-- The rates of duty drawback have been enhanced by around 10 to 40 percent of the existing rates.
-- The rate of interest on pre- and post-shipment credit has been reduced by 2 percent.
-- The matter regarding notification of exemption/refund of service tax for exports, as was announced in the Foreign Trade Policy 2007, is still under consideration.
With effect from 01.04-07 the new drawback rate for grey cotton yarn of less than 60 counts is 5.4 percent with a cap of Rs 11/kg as against the existing rate of 4 percent with a cap of Rs 8/kg.
The new rate for dyed cotton yarn of less than 60 counts is 6.5 percent with a cap of Rs 18/kg. In respect of cotton yarn of 60 counts and more, a higher rate of 8.8 percent/9.9 percent with a cap of Rs 26 per kg/Rs 33 per kg is being provided, depending upon whether the yarn is grey or dyed. As for cotton fabrics, the new rate is 6.4 percent (grey)/7.7percent (dyed) with a drawback cap of Rs 19 per kg (grey)/Rs 28 per kg (dyed) as against the existing rate of 4.7 percent (grey)/5.7 percent (dyed) with a cap of Rs 14 per kg (grey)/Rs 20.5 per kg (dyed).
The new drawback rate for hand-knotted woollen carpets is 12.5 percent with a cap of Rs 700 per square metre as against the existing rate of 9.4 percent with a cap of Rs 565 per sqm.
For silk carpets, the new drawback rate is 15.5 percent with a cap of Rs 2750 per sq m as against the existing rate of 11.8 percent with a cap of Rs 1600 per sq m. The drawback rate on cotton durries is fixed at 11.5 percent with a cap of Rs 26/kg as against the existing rate of 9.4 percent with a cap of Rs 20/kg.
In the readymade garment sector, the new drawback rate for knitted blouses/shirts/tops of cotton is 10 percent with a cap of Rs 48 per piece as against the existing rate of 7 percent with a cap of Rs 31 per piece. The new rate for knitted blouses/shirts/tops of manmade fibre is 11.5 percent with a cap of Rs 48 per piece as against the existing rate of 8.1 percent with a cap of Rs 34 per piece.
For knitted blouses/shirts/tops of cotton and manmade fibre blend, the new drawback rate is 10.7 percent with a cap of Rs 48 per piece as against the existing rate of 7.5 percent with a cap of Rs 3 2 per piece. The drawback rates on woven garments are being revised on similar lines.
In the made up category, the new drawback rate for bed linen, table linen, toilet linen, kitchen linen and curtains of cotton is 9.1 percent with a cap of Rs 110 per kg as against the existing rate of 6.4 percent with a cap of Rs 64 per kg. The new drawback rates on made-ups of manmade fibres and made-ups of silk/wool are also being revised upwards. The new rates are 10.4 percent and 9.8 percent, respectively, as against the existing rates of 7.5 percent and 6.9 percent.
The new drawback rate for finished leather is 7.5 percent with a cap of Rs 8 per sq ft as against the existing rate of 6.6 percent with a cap of Rs 7 per sq ft. Likewise, the new drawback rate for leather footwear for adults is 11.5 percent with a cap of Rs 105 per pair as against the existing rate of 9.5 percent with a cap of Rs 85 per pair. In the case of leather apparels the rate provided is 11.4 percent with a cap of Rs 650 per piece as against the existing rate of 9.5 percent with a cap of Rs 533 per piece. The drawback rates on other leather items viz suit cases, handbags and gloves are also being revised upwards.
Textiles, stainless steel, leather and bicycle parts are some of the goods that have seen drawback rates increased. Due to requests from exporters, some additional lines have also been introduced in the drawback schedule on some labour-intensive items like leather-cum-synthetics, textiles, footwear and electrical apparatus.
Drawback rates have, however, been reduced in a few cases like primary steel and dyes & chemicals due to a reduction of duty on inputs. The reduced rates will come into effect prospectively, when the notification is issued, Revenue Secretary PV Bhide said.
The Indian Finance Ministry also announced lower interest rates for exporters in the textile, readymade garment, leather export, handicrafts, engineering products, processed agriculture products, marine products, sports goods and toys sectors, as well as all SME sectors.
-- Higher duty drawback rates for most products;
-- Additional lines added to the drawback schedule;
-- Lower interest rates for nine sectors and SMEs; and
-- Relaxation on expenditure for deemed export benefits
Banks will now charge interest rate not exceeding Benchmark Prime Lending Rates (BPLR) minus 4.5 percent on pre-shipment credit up to 180 days and post-shipment credit up to 90 days on the outstanding amount for the period between April 1 and December 31 this fiscal year, financial sector Secretary Vinod Rai said.
At present, banks charge interest rate not exceeding BPLR minus 2.5 percent on these two kinds of credit. The government will provide the requisite interest subvention of 2 percent to commercial banks through Reserve Bank of India. RBI will shortly issue a notification to this effect.
The government also announced a relaxation from monthly and quarterly ceilings of expenditure for deemed export benefits to enable the Commerce Ministry to meet the pending reimbursement claims. Except the revised drawback rates, all other measures are temporary in nature to bail out exporters.