Exports get Rs 500cr sops

The government has offered a Rs 500-crore stimulus to select exports to give much-needed boost to the dwindling sector and sustain positive growth. Incentives have been announced to promote exports to China and Japan, too.

The stimulus was offered to sectors such as engineering products, electronic goods, rubber, chemicals, plastics, machine tools, electrical and power equipment, steel tubes, auto components and cotton-woven fabrics.

Among the significant measures announced today by Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma, there is expansion of Focused Product Scheme (FPS) and special FPS by including 225 new products, under which exporters would be given an incentive of 2-3 per cent. China and Japan have been added in Market-linked Focused Programme, under which exporters are provided additional benefits. “We hope in the last quarter (January-March) of this financial year we will be able to substantially close the gaps and achieve better growth than was expected in August, when the foreign trade policy was announced,” Sharma said.

Benefits under the Market-linked Focused Product Scheme (MLFPS) have been extended to export of 1,837 new products. The sectors are steel tubes, earth-moving equipment, iron and steel structures, three-wheelers, transmission towers, steel pipes and compressors, among others.

Additional support would be given for export of handicraft under the Market Access Initiative Scheme by the Export Promotion Council for Handicrafts to set up warehouses in Latin America. Sharma said his ministry had put forward a proposal to the finance ministry for continuation of the 2 per cent interest subvention for labour-intensive sectors and additional sectors like engineering and chemicals. The commerce ministry urged for reduction of the interest rate for dollar credit to bring it on a par with international rates.

The measures effective today were hailed by the exporters as well as the industry. “This will help the exporters facing numerous challenges in the international markets, even as there are signs of initial recovery. The government should continue the stimulus measures as rupee has started appreciating,” said Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) President A Sakthivel. The government needed to extend benefits under MLFPS to the export of garments to the US and the European Union, he added.