The Indian government has decided to end a tax incentive scheme for exporters on June 30, the country's revenue secretary said on Wednesday, as the export industry in Asia's third-largest economy was doing well and needed no incentives.
* Govt loss estimated at 80 bln rupees from DEPB-govt official
* DEPB to be phased out on June 30
Speaking to reporters, Sunil Mitra said the government faced an estimated annual loss of 80 billion rupees ($1.77 billion) from the Duty Entitlement Pass Book scheme (DEPB), which began in 1997. We really feel that we are rewarding exports on one hand and losing revenue on the other hand, Mitra said. It will be phased out on June 30. That is the finance ministry's decision, he told reporters. The DEPB scheme is a tax incentive scheme for exporters under which the government reimburses about $1.8 billion a year to exporters on taxes paid on imported supplies. It will still give some relief to exporters if taxes are reimbursed under the drawback scheme, Ramu Deora, president of the Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO), said. The duty drawback scheme is an export incentive scheme also offered by the Indian government that neutralises levies paid on inputs with rates fixed annually, based on the duty structure in the budget. Last week, Trade Secretary Rahul Khullar said India's April exports surged by more than a third on demand for engineering goods, gems and oil products. India's merchandise exports rose an annual 37.5 percent to about $246 billion in the last fiscal year, surpassing the initial target of $200 billion. The country hopes to achieve at least 25 percent exports growth in the 2011/12 fiscal year that ends in March, and aims to double its merchandise exports within three years, Trade Minister Anand Sharma had said last month. In April, the government rolled back a 2 percent interest subsidy paid to exporters, as it seeks to rein in fiscal deficit -- estimated at 4.6 percent of gross domestic product in 2011/12. ($1 = 45.12 Indian Rupees). – www.financialexpress.com
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