India has extended rebates for apparel and made-ups manufacturers and exporters. Rebates of state and centre levies and taxes will be done through IT driven scrip system thereby preventing delays and ensuring speedy disbursal. The decision is important as apparel and the made-ups sectors have a combined share of 55 per cent in the total Indian textile export basket. It will have a direct impact on these segments thereby increasing the competitiveness of India’s textile exports globally.

The proposed measures are expected to make the textile sector competitive. Rebate of all embedded state and central taxes and levies for the apparel and made-ups segments would make exports zero-rated, thereby boosting India’s competitiveness in export markets and ensure the equitable and inclusive growth of the textile and apparel sector. So far, apparel and made-ups segments were supported under the Scheme for Rebate of State Levies (RoSL). However, certain state and central taxes continue to be present in the cost of exports.

There are many levies outside GST that are embedded in export prices, and so Indian apparel exporters often demanded higher duty drawbacks and RoSL rates. The ROSL scheme is in tune with the recognized economic principle of zero rating of export products.