Govt nod for refund of Rs 2,700-cr claims under export scheme

The Cabinet today approved a proposal for refund of Rs 2,700-crore claims to exporters under an export promotion initiative 'Target Plus Scheme' in pursuance of a Supreme Court judgement.
The decision was taken at the Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi here.
The Cabinet "approved the implementation of Supreme Court's judgement dated October 27, 2015, regarding Target Plus Scheme (TPS) 2004-09.
"The revenue implication under the TPS arising from the Supreme Court's judgement is about Rs 2,700 crore," the commerce ministry said in a statement.
It said the benefit will be extended to all the applicant exporters eligible as per provisions of the initially notified TPS for the year 2005-06.

The claims, under the scheme, which were denied as a result of a retrospective notification will now be settled as per direction of the Supreme Court, it added.

"The corrective measure will bring an end to multiple litigations with the government and the claims under the TPS will be issued as per original provisions under the Foreign Trade Policy in compliance with the decision of the Supreme Court," it added.
Following the retrospective notification to curtail the duty benefits under the TPS, Kanak Exports obtained a favorable ruling from the Supreme Court in October 27, 2015.
The court held that the rate of duty benefits could not be reduced reduced, retrospectively and "they would be effective only from the date of their issue", it said.

The statement said that the guidelines and modalities for processing the claims will be worked out by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade in consultation with Department of of Revenue and is proposed to be completed in one-year from the date of approval of the Cabinet.