Pledge to boost exports:

New Delhi: The government yesterdayt set an ambitious export target of $200 billion for 2008-09 by extending the duration of a slew of sops. Commerce minister Kamal Nath said exports for 2007-08 would exceed $155 billion, falling just short of the $160-billion-target because of the appreciation of the rupee against the dollar. Setting the target of a 5 per cent share of world trade by 2020 from 1.5 per cent now, the government announced that tax refunds and interest subsidies for many products would continue for another year. There would also be new incentives to promote the exports of vegetables, sports goods, toys and computer hardware. “Ambitious it may be, but achieving it is not impossible. It means we will have to ensure an average annual growth rate of 25 per cent consistently for the next 12 years,” Nath said at the announcement of the annual supplement to the foreign trade policy. A big challenge: According to Ganesh K. Gupta, president of the Federation of Indian Export Organisations, “The target of $200 billion set by the commerce minister is achievable. This is an overall target and not sector-specific and we will work together to ensure we meet the target.” However, the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India said the $200-billion target was too ambitious and $170 billion would have been a more realistic target. The trade policy, the last of the UPA government, has extended the tax rebates to exporters under the Duty Entitlement Passbook scheme till May 2009. As a relief to the sectors affected by rupee appreciation, the government has extended a subvention scheme under which exporters are given bank credit at a reduced rate of 6 per cent. This will result in an outgo of Rs 1,050 crore from the exchequer in the current year. In all, exporters will get benefits of Rs 2,050 crore from the government, an official said. New market push: For tapping new markets, the government has included 10 more countries under the focus market scheme, which provides fiscal sops to exporters. These countries are Albania, Bosnia, Colombia, Croatia, Djibouti, Ghana, Honduras, Mongolia, Macedonia and Sudan. Removing uncertainty among 100 per cent export oriented units, the income tax benefits under section 10B of the Income Tax Act have been extended for one year beyond March 2009. Though the government has kept information technology units outside the purview of this relief, officials said it was only a matter of time before parity is restored. Capital goods relief: To promote value addition in manufacturing exports, the government has cut the duty on the import of machinery under the Export Promotion Capital Goods scheme to three per cent from five per cent. The government also reduced the average export obligation under the scheme for segments that saw a decline in exports in the previous years. Obligations of premier trading houses will be calculated on the basis of an average of last five years’ exports instead of three. Nath said the pending issues relating to the refund of service taxes would be resolved soon. If there is a delay in the refund of the terminal excise duty and the central sales tax — payments should be made within a month of the due date — exporters will get 6 per cent interest on the claims. [From Internet]