New Delhi, March 13 The government on Friday informed the Rajya Sabha that it has disbursed ₹15,756.96 crore under the Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products (RoDTEP) scheme until December 25 of this fiscal year.
This scheme has benefited more than 1.11 lakh exporters so far this fiscal, according to Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Jitin Prasada, in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.
The scheme was implemented on January 1, 2021. It refunds embedded taxes and duties that are not otherwise refunded under any other mechanism.
The scheme helps ensure that Indian exports remain competitive in global markets by neutralizing such taxes in a WTO-compliant manner.
In FY22, the remission disbursed was ₹14,798.42 crore, and in FY25, it rose to ₹18,734.56 crore.
Sectors that are labor-intensive, such as textiles and apparel, marine products, agricultural products, chemicals, and engineering goods, are among the key beneficiaries, and account for a substantial share of RoDTEP support and contribute significantly to employment generation and export growth, he said.
In a separate reply, the minister said that the growth of India's imports from China has slowed over time, while India's exports to China are growing faster than imports in the current financial year.
India's imports from China rose by 618.73 per cent in FY05-14, whereas during the period FY15 to FY25, they increased by 87.81 per cent.
In the current financial year, India's exports to China have grown by 38.31 per cent year-on-year from April to January, while imports from China are up by 13.82 per cent.
"India's imports from China have largely risen due to India's growing demand for capital goods, intermediate goods and raw materials like APIs, auto components, electronic parts and assemblies, mobile phone parts, etc., which are used for making finished products that are also exported out of India.
"These goods are imported to meet the demand of fast-expanding sectors like electronics, pharmaceuticals, telecom and power in India," Prasada said.
In another reply, Prasada said that the key non-tariff measures faced by Indian exporters relate to the EU's REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals) requirements.
He added that the non-tariff barriers faced by Indian exporters include a delay in listing new Indian establishments in the EU's Trade Control and Expert System New Technology system for fish and fishery products; pending approval of the Residue Monitoring Plan for Milk and Milk products.
Higher sampling checks for Indian aquaculture shrimp consignments and stringent Maximum Residue Limits for tea products, spices, and spice products are the other barriers.