Bottlenecks hampering engg exports: EEPC

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 2

Engineering exporters have said procedural bottlenecks in India are still hampering external trade.

Giving examples at the Board of Trade meeting chaired by Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goel on Wednesday, exporters from the Engineering and Export Council of India said the availability of steel was getting affected because of staff shortage in BIS. As a result, clearances in some cases have come after delays of over a year.

In case of the draft Merchant Shipping Bill, 2020, no proper framework under the law has been established. In its absence, there is a pressing need for a multi-Ministry institutionalised forum to take up issues impacting movements in cargo handling, freight and other procedural bottlenecks on a regular and formal basis, EEPC India chairman Mahesh Desai said at the BoT meeting.

Exporters are facing “immense working capital blockage problems” due to Rule 96(10) of the CGST which bars exporters from making transactions in a specific manner. “This provision is causing hindrance to the promotion of exports which cannot be the policy of our government. Flexibility in the hands of exporters cannot be taken away on account of procedural issues,” pointed out Desai.

Exporters also want the government not to delay the announcement of the rate for Remission of Duties and Taxes and Exported Products (RoDTEP) so that they could factor in the benefits from January 1, 2021.

Exporters also feel the cost of borrowing is still high and want banks to charge the Repo Rate plus 2.2%.