Ficci demands duty sops for steel exports

Ahead of the announcement of the annual foreign trade policy, industry body Ficci today demanded an additional three per cent duty sop for steel exporters to bridge the rising trade gap.

"In order to bridge the trade gap, the government needs to give further incentives to steel exports through measures like Focus Market Scheme, which provides 3 per cent duty free credit scrips for exports to select markets," it said.

India that used to be a net exporter of finished steel till 2006-07 has become net importer since 2007-08. In 2009-10 the deficit reached 4.06 million tonnes, about three times over the previous year, it said.

Steel exports in April-July 2010-11 declined by 11 per cent year-on-year, while imports went up by over 66 per cent.