Exports: How the indirect tax put Indian competitiveness to test

Order book entries receded, scale of business reduced, jobs curtailed

While the 18th century American thinker Thomas Paine supported ‘free trade’ for its power to uproot existing traditional social and political arrangements, Edmund Burke, his Irish contemporary, believed, “Free trade is not based on utility but on justice”.  

Three months after the introduction of the goods and services tax (GST) regime, ‘free trade’ is under test in India, at least for exporters. Indian exports, which were effectively free pre-GST, have turned expensive in the short term. This, industry observers say, will hit their competitiveness with a lag. 

Financial hurdles post-GST — delayed refunds and upcoming reduction in duty drawback