Fabric exporters hail govt move

SURAT, Feb 21: Synthetic and Rayon Fabric exporters have expressed relief over the long-awaited announcement of the procedure to reimburs...

SURAT, Feb 21: Synthetic and Rayon Fabric exporters have expressed relief over the long-awaited announcement of the procedure to reimburse excise duty on exports of processed fabrics, according to Ganesh Kumar Gupta, chairman of the Synthetic and Rayon Textile Export Promotion Council.

A notification, issued to this effect by the Revenue Department last week (February 16), clarified that duty on exported fabrics would be reimbursed on the basis of average duty paid; but not exceeding Rs 3.80 per sq mt where the processed textile fabrics are manufactured in a factory which paid Rs 1.5 lakh per chamber per month and Rs 5.10 per sq mt where the processed textile fabrics are manufactured in a factory which paid duty Rs 2 lakh per chamber per month.

Gupta also pointed out that as the present notification was an insertion in an already existing one, the refund should be available with retrospective effect from December 16, 1998. He, however, urged the authorities to issue a clarification in this regard to avoid any further uncertainty among exporters.

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Gupta was critical of the authorities for being silent on the notification regarding refund of yarn duty which was earlier available at the rate of 7.2 per cent to the exporters and demanded that the authorities announce the same on the basis of what was granted under All-India Rate of Drawback.

According to Gupta, a number of people had become hesitant in exporting fabrics in the last two months as there was no announcement of procedure for claiming refund. And those who exported suffered due to blockage of large amount of funds, he added.