Page 3 - Export

RBI proposes to change regulations on export, import transactions

The RBI on Tuesday proposed rationalising regulations that cover export and import transactions with an aim to promote ease of doing business and empower banks to provide more efficient service to their foreign exchange customers. The central bank has issued 'Regulation of Foreign Trade under Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), 1999 Draft Regulations and Directions' in this regard. As per the draft, every exporter should furnish to the specified authority a declaration specifying the amount representing the full export value of the goods or services. "The amount representing the full export value of goods and services shall be realised and repatriated to India within nine months from the date of shipment for goods and date of invoice for services," it said. The draft also proposes that an exporter who has not realised the full value of export within the time specified may be caution listed by the authorised dealer. An exporter who has been caution listed can undertake export

'Signify expanding in India, evaluating manufacturing capacity for export'

Signify's India market is becoming more important by the day, and it is evaluating the manufacturing capacity in the country under the China Plus-One strategy, a company official said. Signify India has started playing an important role not only in the domestic business but also in helping our global business to grow from India, said Sumit Joshi, Vice-Chairman and Managing Director of Signify Innovations India. The Indian market of Signify -- earlier known as Philips Lighting -- is playing a big role in the design and R&D of Signify's global lighting business and as an ecosystem for electronic products as semiconductors are developed here, the manufacturing opportunity will become bigger. "India is a very very important market and I am saying obviously because of the domestic potential which we have... but I also think the role that India could play for the world for Signify is becoming far more important," Joshi told PTI. Asked if Signify is looking as a manufacturing base for ...

Export projection for FY25 underway, working on ease of doing biz: DGFT

The Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) on Friday said that export projections for the current fiscal are still being finalised while efforts are on to improve the ease of doing business to meet the government's goal of achieving USD 2 trillion in exports by 2030. Total exports in FY'24 were USD 778 billion, showing a marginal increase from the previous year's exports of USD 776 billion. The Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) has estimated that the country's total exports of goods and services for the current fiscal year could be around USD 890-910 billion. "Export target for current fiscal is not yet finalised," DGFT Santosh Kumar Sarangi told reporters after interacting with the exporters of Kolkata. He said that the DGFT's office has submitted a proposal for the extension of the Interest Equalization Scheme, which is set to end in June but it is not yet approved. The scheme provides pre and post-shipment Rupee export credit, offering a two per cent interest ..

Exports of marine products contract 9% to $7.3 bn in 2023-24 on slow demand

Exports of marine products contracted by 8.74 per cent to USD 7.37 billion during 2023-24 due to demand slowdown in key markets of the US and Europe, according to the commerce ministry data. Indian exporters, however, expressed confidence that in 2024-25, marine exports would register a healthy growth as they are getting good orders. The shipments stood at USD 8 billion in 2022-23, the data showed. According to exporters, demand slowdown, high inflation in developed economies and increasing exports of frozen shrimp from Ecuador to America are some of the reasons for dip in India's exports last fiscal. Leading exporters from the sector Yogesh Gupta, Managing Director, Megaa Moda, said that as the US has imposed anti-dumping duty on Ecuador, "our products would now compete and increase exports". He said that the order books are healthy so far. "Now frozen shrimp from India and Ecuador will compete in the US market and we are hopeful to gain. In 2024-25, our exports will register go

Spice export may fall 40% if EtO contamination issue not resolved: FISS

The Federation of Indian Spice Stakeholders (FISS) on Friday said India's spice export may decline nearly 40 per cent in FY25 if the issue of ethylene oxide or EtO contamination in spices meant for exports is not addressed at the earliest. The statement came against the backdrop of Hong Kong and Singapore banning the sale of popular brands MDH and Everest after detecting carcinogenic chemical ethylene oxide in their products, leading to a mandatory recall from shelves. In 2023-24, India's spice exports totalled USD 4.25 billion, accounting for 12 per cent share of global spice exports. "Lot of exporters have orders on their hands and they have been halted to an extent after that episode. As per our estimate, spice exports could be affected by 40 per cent of the volume this year if the issue is not resolved quickly," said Tejas Gandhi, Secretary of FISS, an association of nearly 600 spice traders, exporters and farmers from across the country. Addressing a press conference on the .

India-UK FTA: Work in progress to resolve issues, says commerce ministry

Senior officials of India and the UK held negotiations last month on the outstanding issues of the proposed free trade agreement (FTA) and the work is in progress to iron out the differences. According to the commerce ministry, the Indian team visited London from April 16-19 for negotiations. "The teams have made good progress and work is in progress in resolving pending issues. Chapter-wise textual negotiations are nearly closed and schedules on goods and services are at an advanced stage of negotiations," the ministry said. The ministry, however, did not disclose further details. So far, 13 rounds of talks have been completed. The 14th round started in January. There are 26 chapters in the agreement, including goods, services, investments, and intellectual property rights. The Indian industry is demanding greater access for its skilled professionals from sectors like IT and healthcare in the UK market, besides market access for several goods at nil customs duty. On the other h

Apple's India iPhone exports soar, set to cross Rs 1 trillion mark in FY25

Exports of iPhones produced in India nearly doubled in April, reaching $1.1 billion (Rs 9,000 crore) compared to $580 million a year ago

Next round of talks for India-Asean trade agreement review in July

Senior officials of India and the 10-nation bloc of Southeast Asian nations - ASEAN - will hold the next round of talks in July to review the existing free trade agreement in Jakarta, Indonesia, an official statement said on Sunday. The last round of the three-day negotiations concluded on May 9 in Putrajaya, Malaysia. The discussions for review of AITIGA (Asean-India Trade in Goods Agreement) started in May 2023 to make it more trade-facilitative and beneficial for businesses across the region, the commerce ministry said. A joint committee, which is undertaking the review work, has so far met four times. It has finalised its terms of reference and the negotiating structure for the review in its first two meetings and initiated talks for the review from its third meeting, which was held on February 18-19 here. "The fourth Joint Committee meeting for the review of AITIGA was held in Putrajaya, Malaysia from 7-9 May," the statement said. The committee was co-chaired by Rajesh Agraw

Decision on resumption of sugar exports months away, says food secy

"It is still early days," Sanjeev Chopra, India's Secretary of Food and Public Distribution, told reporters on the sidelines of the Citi ISO Datagro Sugar Conference in New York

Govt allows export of 14,000 tn of non-basmati white rice to Mauritius

The government on Monday permitted exports of 14,000 tonnes of non-basmati white rice to Mauritius. The export is permitted through National Cooperative Exports Limited (NCEL), the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) said in a notification. Though exports of non-basmati white rice have been banned since July 20, 2023 to boost domestic supply, exports are allowed on the basis of permission granted by the government to certain countries to meet their food security needs on request. "Export of 14,000 MT of non-basmati white rice to Mauritius has been permitted through NCEL," it said. Earlier, India has allowed exports of the commodity to African nations including Tanzania, Djibouti and Guinea-Bissau. Besides, export of non-basmati white rice was permitted to countries like Nepal, Cameroon, Cote D' Ivore, Guinea, Malaysia, Philippines, and Seychelles. NCEL is a multi-state cooperative society. It is jointly promoted by some of the leading cooperative societies in the country,

Centre imposes 40% duty on export of onions with effect from May 4

The government on Friday imposed a 40 per cent duty on export of onions. It also exempted duty on the import of desi chana till March 31, 2025. Besides, it has extended the duty exemption on imports of yellow peas covered by the bill of entry issued on or before October 31, 2024. In a notification, the finance ministry said the changes would be effective from May 4. Currently, the export of onion is banned. However, the government allows shipments to India's friendly nations. It has permitted a specified quantity of onion exports to UAE and Bangladesh. In August last year, India had imposed a 40 per cent export duty on onions up to December 31, 2023.

Govt unlikely to impose export curbs on low-grade iron ore, says report

China typically accounts for more than 90% of overall shipments of iron ore from India which is the world's fourth-largest producer of the steel-making ingredient

Exporters urge government to extend interest equalisation scheme

In a statement, the apex body for exporters, Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO), on Monday said that the scheme provides competitiveness to Indian exports, particularly to MSMEs

Agri exports fall 9% during Apr-Feb 2024 due to global, domestic factors

The country's agriculture exports declined by 8.8 per cent to USD 43.7 billion during April-February period of 2023-24 fiscal due to factors like the Red Sea crisis, Russia-Ukraine war, and domestic restrictions imposed on critical items like rice, wheat, sugar and onion. According to the data of the commerce ministry, the exports stood at USD 47.9 billion in April-February 2022-23. India's agricultural GDP also witnessed a significant deceleration, growing by only 0.7 per cent in 2023-24, down from 4.7 per cent in 2022-23. The data also showed that exports of the 719 scheduled agri products in the APEDA basket declined by 6.85 per cent to 22.4 billion during the 11-month period of the last fiscal as against USD 24 billion in April-February 2022-23. The export ban and restrictions on commodities like rice, wheat, sugar and onion have hit agri exports of about USD 5-6 billion in the last fiscal, an official said. However, among 24 principal commodities (in APEDA basket), 17 have ..

Small exporters seek continuation of amnesty scheme till Sep: Industry body

Several small exporters have requested the government to continue the amnesty scheme for one-time settlement of default in export obligation till September, an industry body said on Monday. Ludhiana-based Hand Tools Association President S C Ralhan said the number of small exporters have not been able to avail of benefits of the scheme due to fulfilling their obligations to make make payments to MSMEs within 45 days. According to Section 43B(h) of the Income Tax Act, introduced through the Finance Act 2023, if a larger company does not pay an MSME on time -- within 45 days in case of written agreements -- it cannot deduct that expense from its taxable income, leading to potentially higher taxes. "Due to this, we diverted our funds to make payments and several of us were not able to apply for the amnesty scheme. We urge the government to continue the scheme till September," Ralhan said. The last date for payment of customs duty plus interest ended on March 31, 2024. In the new fore

India's polished diamond exports decline by 27.5% as key markets falter

The fall in exports forced the world's biggest diamond polisher to reduce imports of rough diamonds by 18% from a year ago to $14.27 billion in the financial year ended March 31

'Exports to Europe, Latin America register healthy growth in 2023'

Indian exporters made further inroads in European and Latin American nations in 2023, registering healthy growth in countries such as Romania, Montenegro, Austria, and Guatemala, an official said on Friday. India's merchandise export rose 2.1 per cent to the European Union (EU) in 2023 despite headwinds being faced by large developed markets like the EU and the UK due to high cost of living, weak external demand, and monetary tightening, the commerce ministry official said. "India's export trade expansion has been impressive inspite of global challenges in 2023," the official said. India's merchandise exports have recorded healthy growth in European nations like Romania, Czech Republic, Montenegro, Finland, the Netherlands, Portugal, Luxemburg, Iceland, Ireland, and Austria. "The growth points towards India's trade resilience and growth despite prevailing uncertainties and deceleration of the economies in Europe," the official added. Similarly, in Latin American countries, India's

DGFT should issue orders on QCO item imports as replenishment under AA

It appears the government intends to give GAEC for exports of SCOMET items only to the parties to whom you have already made some exports

DGFT notifies policy for general authorisation for export of SCOMET goods

The commerce ministry on Wednesday notified a policy for general authorisation for the export of certain telecommunication-related and information security-related items under a SCOMET category to grant one-time bulk licences. A detailed procedure for these authorisations has also been notified by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT). Special chemicals, organisms, materials, equipment and technologies (SCOMET) items are dual-use goods. "The policy for general authorisation for export of telecommunication-related items under SCOMET category...and export of information security items under SCOMET category...to grant one-time bulk licences for these items has been notified," the DGFT said in a notification. The applicant exporter will have to submit an application for getting a one-time license through the online SCOMET portal and attach the information in the prescribed format.

'Rice exports at risk as exporters get huge tax demand notice from cutoms'

Exporters don't have the financial muscle to pay the duty difference for nearly two years; instead, they would close the business, said an exporter based in southern state of Andhra Pradesh