In accordance with the notification by Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) under Department of Revenue, the Finance Ministry has approved the allocation of Rs 39,097 crore under the Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS) for the exports made during FY 2019-20. It also approved an allocation of Rs 15,555 crore for MEIS benefits for exports made during the period April 1, 2020 to December 31, 2020
- Notably, these allocations are strictly utilized for issuance of duty scrips only for exports made during the respective periods, i.e. Rs 39,097 crore for 2019-20, Rs 10,555 crore for the period April 1, 2020 to August 31, 2020 and Rs 5,000 crore for the period September 1, 2020 to December 31, 2020.
- Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) is requested to issue MEIS scrips up to a total value of ₹16,000 crore in FY 2020-21. Issuance of remaining scrips may be spread over the subsequent financial years through an appropriate mechanism.
About Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS):
Introduced in April 2015, MEIS under Foreign Trade Policy of India (FTP 2015-20) is one of the two schemes introduced as a part of Exports from India Scheme. The other scheme is Service Exports from India Scheme (SEIS).
- MEIS provides incentive in the form of duty credit scrip to the exporter to compensate for his loss on payment of duties. The incentive is paid as a percentage of the realized FOB (Free on Board) value for notified goods going to notified markets.
- The MEIS will be wound up by December 31, 2020 and will be replaced by the Remission of Duty or Taxes on Export Products (RoDTEP) scheme under which the remission of embedded taxes and other levies on exports shall be allowed.
Duty Credit Scrip: It is issued by the Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) and can be used to pay various duties/taxes to the Central Govt. Its aim is to incentivize exporters so that they boost the inflow of foreign exchange to India.
Recent Related News:
i.The Cabinet has permitted Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) to export crude oil it has stored in Indian strategic reserve i.e. Mangalore strategic storage and also lowered the quantity of crude oil required in the emergency stockpile in a bid to make it commercially more attractive for the foreign investor.
ii.Amid COVID-19, there is contraction in external demand. So, in order to provide flexibility to exporters and to empower them to negotiate better terms with overseas buyers the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has decided to discontinue the system-based automatic caution-listing of exporters.
About Ministry of Finance:
Union Minister– Nirmala Sitharaman
Minister of State (MoS)– Anurag Singh Thakur
About Department of Revenue:
It exercises control in respect of matters relating to all the Direct and Indirect Union Taxes through two statutory Boards namely, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) and the CBIC.
Revenue Secretary– Ajay Bhushan Pandey
