Passbook Likely For Transborder Trade

The commerce ministry is considering a proposal to extend the duty entitlement passbook (DEPB) scheme to overland steel exports to Bangladesh, Pakistan and Nepal. The DEPB scheme is at present applicable only to exports through the sea route from select ports that include Mumbai, Calcutta, Vizag and Cochin. The commerce ministry is also planning to extend the scheme to export shipments from all ports.

According to steel secretary A K Basu, the ministry has demanded that the scheme be applied to overland exports at the same rate as sea-route exports. The commerce ministry recently raised DEPB rates on several steel products to 19 per cent from 8-12 per cent. Meanwhile, the Linkage Committee under the steel ministry, at its meeting last week, decided to hold meetings with the railways, mines and surface transport ministries to finalise linkages for steel projects. The Linkage Committee, under the chairmanship of the steel secretary, is a single-window mechanism to help private and public sector steel manufacturers to expedite raw material linkages for upcoming projects.

Of the 19 steel projects proposed to be set up, only five have been commissioned, creating additional capacity of 4 million tonnes per annum. While eight projects are in various stages of implementation, the rest have been put on hold due to sluggish market conditions and funding problems.