Nirmala Sitharaman: Rs 60,000 crores boost to exports, housing

Nirmala Sitharaman speaks during a press conference as MoS Finance Anurag Thakur looks on. Pic/PTI

With GDP growth sliding to six-year low of 5 per cent in April-June quarter and several sectors facing low demand, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday announced a fresh set of measures to boost exports and the housing sector.

The key measures include extending the scheme of Reimbursement of taxes and Duties for export promotion, fully automated electronic refund for Input Tax Credits (ITC) in GST, revised priority sector lending norms for exports and expanding the scope of Export Credit Insurance Scheme (ECIS). An inter-ministerial working group has also been formed to monitor export finance.

Accordingly, the Scheme for Remission of duties or Taxes on Export Product (RoDTEP) was announced which will replace Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS) for textiles. In effect, RoDTEP will more than adequately incentivise exporters than existing schemes put together. Revenue foregone on this account is projected at up to Rs 50,000 crore.

Existing dispensation in textiles of MEIS plus old ROSL scheme will continue up to December 12, 2019. Textile and all other sectors which currently enjoy incentives upto two per cent over MEIS will transit into RoDTEP from January 1, 2020.

Sitharaman also announced reduced turnaround time for exports by leveraging technology and benchmarking it to Boston and Shanghai ports. She said that priority sector lending norms for exports is being examined by the RBI and the guidelines will come out soon. Further, government will provide R1,700 crore for export guarantees and to cut credit cost for the exporters.

'Govt clueless on economy'

The Congress on Saturday hit back at the Modi government after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a slew of measures to revive the economy, dubbing them as "cosmetic measures" and said the government was "clueless" over the economy which is in shambles. Addressing a press conference, senior Congress leader Anand Sharma said, "India's economy is in shambles, we are facing a grave situation but the government with its false promises and its outspoken ministers, is not working towards stopping that."