Govt favours diverting MEIS funds to PLI schemes in select sectors

Instead of extending the Merchandise Exports of India Scheme (MEIS), which cost Rs 43,500 crore in 2019-20, the finance ministry and the NITI Aayog have called for putting financial resources into new Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) schemes in select sectors with core competency and potential for global exports. The revenue department argued against continuing the MEIS, calling it inefficient and wasteful. It pointed to the runaway cost of maintaining the scheme, despite exports not growing at all.

Senior government sources say public tax liability under the MEIS ballooned from Rs 20,232 crore in 2015-16 to Rs 43,500 crore in 2019-20, becoming unsustainable.