Mumbai: The finance ministry has announced the revised duty drawback rates for all industries, which includes 84 new items. The new rates are effective July 15.

These include cotton bags, leather caps, aluminium artware, suitcases and handbags of plastics, tractor parts, compressors, table tennis tables and various other sports equipment or accessories.

The new drawback scheme also takes into account the incidence of service tax paid on taxable services that go as input services in the manufacturing or processing of export goods. The government has also announced suitable amendments to the customs and central excise duties drawback rules. The drawback rates were finalised following recommendations by a committee set up for the purpose. The committee had held extensive consultations with the various industry and trade associations and other stakeholders in various locations before submitting its report on May 15.

The duty drawback is an export incentive and determines the extent to which exporters can claim refund of excise and customs duties paid by his suppliers. The scheme applies even to goods that are re-exported.

While the drawback rates have undergone changes according to the prices of inputs, duties etc, in most cases, the rates have seen an upward revision.

For stainless steel cutlery, falling under Chapter 82, the drawback rate has been raised to 15 per cent while for semi-finished steel, HR coils, CR sheets, GP sheets and bars and rods, where the duties are in the range of 2.7 per cent to 3.7 per cent (all customs) the drawback caps vary from Rs625 per tonne to Rs1,000.

The rate for finished leather is 6.6 per cent with a cap of Rs7 per sq.ft. as against the existing rate of 6.3 per cent with a cap of Rs5 per sq.ft.

The drawback rates on copper cathodes, wire bars and rods have been reduced from 5 per cent to 2.2 per cent in view of reduction in the duty on copper concentrates.

A drawback of Rs1050 per tonne (all customs) has also been provided for furnace oil and HSD supplied by domestic oil companies to the units located in SEZs.

The drawback rates are based on certain broad parameters including, inter alia, the prices of inputs, standard input/output norms, share of imports in inputs and the applied duty rates. An element of education cess has been factored in the drawback rates as it is being collected along with excise/customs duties.