FIEO terms the Relief as
‘Partial’ and ‘Inadequate’
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Mr.Dr. Syam Agarwal, Addl. DGFT(3rd from right) addressing the meet. On his right are the chief guest Mr. R.S. Gujral,DGFT; Mr. S K Saraf, Chairman, FIEO(WR); Mr. N. Sasidharan, Chief Commissioner, JNPT; & Mr. Ajay Sahai, Director Geneal, FIEO. Mr. S S Sandhu Zonal Jt. DGFT (2nd from right) and Mr. Tapan Mazumdar, Jt. DGFT(extreme right). |
Finance Ministry has announced relief for exporters against rising rupee in four areas – upward revision of drawback rates announced recently, reduction in pre-shipment & post-shipment credit by upto 2%, increase in DEPB rates by 3% for nine sectors and by 2% for rest of other sectors, and, reduction in ECGC premium by 10%.
FIEO has expressed disappointment over the relief provided by the Finance Ministry to exporters against stronger rupee. Calling the relief ‘partial’ and ‘inadequate,’ the Western Region Chairman of FIEO, Mr. S K Saraf said only nine sectors have been offered three percent in DEPB and only two percent rebate in the interest rate on export credit has been announced.
Addressing about hundred exporters during an Open House organised by FIEO with the new Director General of Foreign Trade, Mr. R. S. Gujral at Mumbai on 13th July, Mr. Saraf said stronger rupee has affected all export sectors across the board and there is no rationale for benefits to selective sectors. He said the Federation would submit fresh data to the Finance Ministry for extending the relief to all other sectors. On the rebate in interest rate, he said "2% reduction may provide relief only to those exporters who have large credits; for smaller exporters, the rebate is not more than a pinch of salt." FIEO Chairman said that the only way the government could compensate the exporters against rising rupee was by increasing duty drawback and DEPB rates across the board by at least 5%.
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Responding to the observations made by the FIEO Chairman, Mr. Gujral said, "The reduced interest rate on pre-shipment & post-shipment credit would be available to exporters only till 31st December 2007, whereas the DEPB Scheme would most likely cease to exist by the end of this year. So, the exporters should concentrate only on drawback." At the same time he assured that he would bring about procedural simplifications to reduce transaction costs of export and attempt to create a climate of trust between exporters and the government. |
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A view of the participants. |
While summing up the proceedings of the Open House, FIEO Director General Mr. Ajay Sahai requested that whatever meager relief had been announced should be extended to DFIA and advance licence holders as well as EOUs and SEZ units as they all were equally bearing the brunt of stronger rupee.
Mr. Gujral was accompanied by Dr Shyam Agarwal, Additional DGFT, Mr Tapan Majumdar, Jt.DGFT, Mr S S Sandhu, Zonal Jt DGFT, Jt DGFTs from Mumbai, Mr N Sasidharan, Chief Commissioner of Customs, JNPT and other dignitaries during the Open House.
Short Term Refresher Programme on International Trade
Duration : Five Day Programme (Monday to Friday) Date : 24-28 September, 2007 Time : 2.15 p.m. to 5.30 p.m. Venue : Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT), IIFT Campus, B-21 Qutub Institutional Area, New Delhi Participation Fee : Rs. 3,000 per participant The Programme will cover:
Understanding Schemes of Managing Currency Risk in Export Transaction Specialists from IIFT, trade-related Ministries and FIEO will constitute the faculty and a Certificate will be given on completion of the Programme.
For more details and participation, please contact, FIEO (Northern Region) at 011-46042118, 46042121, 46042172.
LIMITED SEATS, AVILABLE ON FIRST-CUM-FIRST SERVED BASIS |
