Duty refund claims touch Rs 6,423 cr; impacting exports: FIEO

The government should expeditiously clear Rs 6,423 crore of duty refund claims as the mounting arrears are hurting shipments, exporters have demanded.
Exporters' body FIEO said that despite repeated requests, the customs authorities have not cleared their claims.
"They (revenue department) appear to be more concerned about meeting their revenue targets rather then helping exporters. Since two-and-a-half months, the claims are pending and it has reached Rs 6,423 crore," Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) President S C Ralhan told PTI.
Exporters get refunds for duties paid on import of input or raw materials used in manufacturing products that are meant for outward shipments.

Liquidity is a big issue for exports and pending claims of duty drawback and Cenvat refunds are affecting exports, he added.
While asking government to give special attention to exports, Ralhan cautioned that continuous decline in the outbound shipments could also lead to job losses.

According to him, if claims continue to rise, the country's shipments will be affected adversely.
"Situation is not good for India's exports. We have already missed last fiscal's target. In the current fiscal, it would fall further due to steep decline in the container volumes at ports and poor order book position," Ralhan said.
He further said that compared to exporters from countries such as China and Bangladesh, the Indian exporters get incentives less than one per cent of the country's total merchandise shipments.

In 2014-15, under various schemes - Vishesh Krishi and Gram Udyog Bhavan, focus market and product scheme, interest subsidy and market development assistance - government has provided incentives worth Rs 17,995.81 crore. During the fiscal, the country's exports aggregated at Rs 18,97,026 crore.
India's exports plunged in the negative zone recording a decline of 21 per cent in March, the biggest fall in the last six years, pulling down the total shipments for 2014-15 to USD 310.5 billion. The country had set the export target at USD 340 billion.