Bouncing Back to Recovery

After being on a roller coaster ride last fiscal, exporters currently have a lot to look forward to. For starters, as per the latest data available with the government, during the first seven weeks of FY21, India’s exports reached $50.7 Bn. This is 11% higher than the corresponding period last year. Moreover, data suggests that India’s engineering exports to key markets like the US, China, Germany and Italy showed positive year-on-year growth in the first month of FY21 owing to a low base of the previous year. And now with the India-UK Free Trade Agreement within sight, new opportunities are on the cards for Indian exporters.

Furthermore, with all eyes on Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products (RoDTEP) rates which are expected to be revealed in a fortnight, experts claim it is likely that the government will alter the allocation for the scheme to Rs. 25,000-30,000 crore. It is said that the current outlay-- Rs. 13,000 crore is not sufficient to implement the recommendations made by the Pillai committee which is tasked with the responsibility of determining this scheme’s rates. Being apprehensive about receiving low RoDTEP rates, some sectors of the exporter community have already approached the government for maintaining the rates to atleast 5%. This the exporters claim will help price their products competitively in the global market. We hope the policymakers will make the right decision in this regard and, in turn, give relief to the liquidity crunch of the exporters.

Exports hit $51 billion in first 7 weeks of current fiscal

India’s exporters are not complaining about the order book, despite some hiccups in recent weeks due to lockdowns across states. According to the latest data available with the government, India’s exports reached $50.7 billion during the first seven weeks of the fiscal year, 11% higher than the corresponding period in 2019-20. The initial weeks of the last financial year were washed out due to a strict country-wide lockdown in India, which coincided with a similar situation across large parts of the world.

Tax refund: Govt likely to raise allocation for key export scheme

The government will likely raise the allocation for its flagship export tax refund scheme from the budgetted Rs 13,000 crore for FY22, as the current outlay is expected to fall way short of the amount required to implement recommendations of the GK Pillai panel, an official source told FE.

India doubled engineering exports to China in FY21 at $4.8 billion

In the financial year 2020-21 (FY21), engineering exports from India to China rose by 128% to $4.8 billion as compared to the previous year. The development occurred in a year when relations between the two countries hit a trough after a skirmish in Galwan between the soldiers of the two countries resulted in casualties on both sides.

Incentives for R&D: New foreign trade policy to retain key schemes despite WTO trouble

The government will likely retain certain key export schemes, such as those relating to special economic zones (SEZs) and export-oriented units, in the next foreign trade policy as well, even though these programmes have been challenged at the World Trade Organization (WTO), sources told FE. However, any new scheme within the FTP will be designed in sync with WTO stipulations, one of the sources said.

MSMEs need to embrace tech to enhance global competitiveness: Sarangi

Domestic micro, small and medium enterprises will have to embrace technology and focus on value addition to enhance their global competitiveness, Pratap Chandra Sarangi, Minister of State for MSME said on Monday.