RoDTEP rates likely to be announced in two weeks, says DGFT Amit Yadav

New Delhi: Rates for the tax refund scheme for exporters — Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products (RoDTEP) — are expected to be announced in the coming two weeks, a senior official said on Friday.

Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) Amit Yadav said it is working with the finance ministry on the scheme.

Last year, the government approved the RoDTEP scheme for reimbursement of taxes and duties to exporters, with a view to give a boost to the country's outbound shipments. The scheme was implemented for all goods, with effect from January 1.

"My sense is that in the coming two weeks, we would be in a position to have an announcement of the rates for RoDTEP," he said at a PHDCCI webinar.

Apex exporters' body the Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) has time and again asked the government to announce the rates for different sectors under the scheme as delay would have implications for future exports.

The rates have to be notified by the Department of Commerce, which would be based on the recommendation of a committee chaired by G K Pillai, former commerce and home secretary.

Yadav said due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been an impact on both tax collections and expenditure and there is also the challenge of revenue.

On the Merchandise Export from India Scheme (MEIS), the DGFT said it is working with the Department of Revenue on the issue.

"We have proposed to the revenue department that if the MEIS scrips can be issued, which can be encashable a year after... something (on these lines) we are working on," he said.

The MEIS ended in December last year, but there are issues about exports which happened under the scheme during 2019-20 and 2020-21.