Government to announce relief package for exporters

05 February 2009

The government is likely to soon announce yet another short term package for exporters, especially in the textile sector, against the backdrop of a sharp decline in overseas demand for Indian goods.

Concerned over loss of jobs in the exports sector, the government has planned steps to help garment exporters hit by a global downturn, Montek Singh Ahluwalia, deputy chairman of the planning commission, said.

Hit by falling overseas demand, garment exporters in the country are seeking a 4 percentage point increase in duty refund rates effective September 2008.

Meanwhile, commerce secretary G K Pillai on Wednesday said about 1.5 million people employed in the exports sector would be out of jobs by March this year if the economic downturn continues. He said he expects the relief package to come by the month-end.

According to government estimates, the recession has rendered as many as 5,00,000 people jobless between October 2008 and December 2008.

The government announced two relief packages for the export sector – in December 2008 and January 2009 - in which it cut excise duty by four per cent across the board and hiked rate of duty refunds to exporters under the Duty Entitlement Pass Book (DEPB) scheme. The scheme is valid up to December this year.