Mumbai: The government is likely to extend the duty entitlement passbook (DEPB) scheme for exporters as the Anwarul Hoda committee set up to find an alternative has instead recommended continuation of the scheme for another three years.

The Anwarul Hoda committee was set up to suggest an alternative to DEPB that would cover all the major taxes that exporters were subjected to. The DEPB covers only the refund of customs and central excise duties paid on inputs by exporters.

The committee could not come up with a new scheme due mainly to differences with the finance ministry, sources said. The scheme, which was to expire by end of this fiscal, may now be extended initially by three years as suggested by the committee.

A new scheme would also have burdened the finance ministry with refund of more taxes to exporters, sources pointed out.

"DEPB is likely to be extended for a year to begin with," commerce secretary G K Pillai said on the sidelines of a seminar by Confederation of Indian Textile Industry (CITI).

He said the efforts to find a replacement to the DEPB would continue as the present scheme only covers excise and customs and not other taxes that exporters have to pay.