The government on Friday approved a scheme for reimbursement of taxes and duties to exporters with a view to give boost to the country’s dwindling outbound shipments.
A decision in this regard was taken in a Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi here.
The reimbursement of taxes such as duty on power charges, VAT on fuel in transportation, farm sector, captive power generation, mandi tax, stamp duty and central excise duty on fuel used in transportation would make Indian products competitive in global markets, the Commerce and Industry ministry tweeted.
The measures are compliant with WTO norms, it mentioned. The sectors and products under the remission of duties and taxes on export products (RoDTEP) will be notified in a phased manner and the MEIS benefit for those sectors and items will be withdrawn.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced RoDTEP scheme in her Budget speech on February 1.
Briefing the media about this decision, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal on Friday said with the rolling out of this new scheme, the Merchandise Export Incentive Scheme (MEIS) will be “phased out”.
Sitharaman had said the scheme will be launched this year itself.
Green highway project in four states: The government on Friday approved a proposal for the construction of 780 km of green highways at a cost of Rs 7,660 crore.
“The Cabinet has approved building 780-km ‘green’ National Highway project at a cost of Rs 7,660 crore,” Union Minister Prakash Javadekar told reporters after the meeting.
The project pertains to rehabilitation and upgradation of various National Highways covering a total length of over 780 km in four states — Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, UttarPradesh and Andhra Pradesh.