The government has allowed setting up of private bonded warehouses to import, stock and sell even negative list items to holders of advance licences.
The warehouses will also facilitate bulk purchases of large overseas buyers like departmental stores. Supplies to these bonded warehouses against payment in foreign exchange through normal banking channels will be treated as exports.
Bonded warehouses can be set up by both foreign and domestic companies to enable exporters to meet their raw materials needs.
Ministry sources said this was a significant step as a major cause of the drop in exports was the delay on the part of the exporters to meet schedules, which was largely spurred by their inability to procure raw materials in time.
For instance, in carpets and leather sectors, there are many small exporters requiring small amount of imports, at times negative list items, had to contact foreign suppliers.
Export commissioner Anil Swarup said, for a very large number of exporters, it is not possible to import small quantities. An intermediate agency is, therefore, required to supply inputs. Inputs falling under the negative list of imports will now be available at international prices. The early supply of inputs will reduce the delivery period. Bulk import of inputs will get the most competitive price.
Further, there are cases where a chain of stores abroad may want bulk imports of say one million shirts and the order cannot be met by one unit. Bonded warehouses will now allow the importer or the entrepreneur to procure the items here and ship it.
The Indian supplier need not ship it directly thereby avoiding delays in schedules.
