New categories of star houses

THE NEW RULE BOOK

The government rationalised the categorisation of status holders yesterday.

Announcing a new scheme for Star Export Houses, Commerce and Industries Minister Kamal Nath said these hoses would also be eligible for privileges like fast track clearance procedures.

Under the new scheme, export houses will be divided into five categories depending on their export performance. An export house with exports of Rs 15 crore over a three-year period will be in the one star category, while FOB exports of Rs 100 crore will put an export house in the two-star category. Export houses with exports of Rs 500 crore, Rs 1,500 crore and Rs 5,000 crore will earn three, four and five star status respectively.

A star export house will be entitled to get license, certificate, permissions and customs clearances for both imports and exports on self-declaration basis. The export house will get the benefit of 100 per cent retention of foreign exchange in Export Earner's Foreign Currency (EEFC) account.

A star export house will also be entitled for consideration under the Target Plus scheme, under which it can avail duty free credit based on incremental exports higher than the annual export target fixed. The star export house will also be exempted from furnishing of bank guarantee in schemes under this policy.

Units in small scale, tiny, cottage sectors, units registered with Khadi and Village Industries commissions will be entitled for double weightage of exports made for grant of star export house status.