Confederation of Indian Textile Industry (CITI) has hailed the Government's decision to extend the Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products (RoDTEP) scheme by one year for exporters in Domestic Tariff Areas (DTA), and for Advance Authorisation (AA), Special Economic Zones (SEZ), and Export-Oriented Units (EOUs) by three months. 

CITI has also welcomed the government’s move to continue the Interest Equalisation Scheme (IES) and introduce Minimum Import Price (MIP) for knitted fabrics, saying, this will help improve the textile trade balance and boost export competitiveness.

The RoDTEP scheme aims to alleviate the costs of exporting goods by offering refunds on uncredited federal, state, and local taxes, levies, and tariffs that are not covered by other programs. However, a recent reduction in RoDTEP rates by 0.1 per cent to 0.5 per cent for approximately 991 textile items, is a setback for the industry advocating for higher rates to main global competitiveness, says Rakesh Mehra, Chairman, CITI. 

Despite the rate reduction, the RoDTEP scheme will help ease financial burdens on Indian exporters by covering non-creditable taxes and levies. It will also enable India sustain export competitiveness, particularly in labor-intensive sectors like textiles and apparel, he adds. 

To help the industry achieve its export target of $350 billion by 2030, CITI has urged for a long-term extension of the RoDTEP scheme. It also advised the Government to reconsider the upward revision of RoDTEP rates to provide much-needed relief and support the growth of India’s textile exports.