Trade promotion scheme RoDTEP likely to be extended beyond September: Sources

Export promotion scheme likely to be extended

The government's trade promotion initiative, Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products (RoDTEP) scheme is likely to be extended further beyond September, sources told Moneycontrol on September 11.

“The government will likely extend the RoDTEP scheme, but an expansion of the programme would be difficult,” said an official familiar with the developments.

The government first extended the scheme until June 30 and then granted another extension until September 30. The scheme has provided support of over Rs 42,000 crore so far.

The scheme's purview was expanded in March, and tax refunds were granted to Special Economic Zones and Export-Oriented Units.

The RoDTEP scheme was introduced in 2021 to promote exports by refunding taxes and duties to exporters. The scheme replaced the Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS) to make incentives compliant with World Trade Organisation norms.

The US had challenged export subsidies provided under MEIS at the WTO.

Decision on the extension of another scheme, the interest equalisation initiative, may take some more time, sources said.

The interest equalisation scheme was also to end on September 30.

“There is a proposal for extending it and that proposal is under consideration. We are hopeful it should come through in the next one or two months,” a senior official had told Moneycontrol earlier.

The government in June had announced an extension to the interest equalisation scheme on pre- and post-shipment rupee export credit. But the benefits were only extended to MSMEs.