Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on September 14 announced revised priority sector lending (PSL) norms for exporters, which will release an additional funding of Rs 36,000 crore to Rs 68,000 crore to them.

PSL norms for export credit have been examined and enabling guidelines are under consideration of the RBI, she said.

“This will release an additional Rs 36,000 crore to Rs 68,000 crore as export credit under priority sector,” she said.

She also said export finance will be actively monitored by an inter-ministerial working group in the commerce department.

Also, the Export Credit Guarantee Corporation (ECGC) will expand the scope of export credit insurance scheme.

The minister said the initiative is expected to cost Rs 1,700 crore annually and will enable reduction in overall cost of export credit including interest rates, especially to MSMEs.

She also announced that Free Trade Agreement (FTA) Utilisation Mission would be set to help exporters optimally utilise the concessional tariffs under trade pacts that India has signed with several countries.

Export incentive scheme

Sitharaman also announced a new scheme - Remission of Duties or Taxes on Export Product (RoDTEP) - to incentivise exporters at an estimated cost of Rs 50,000 crore to the exchequer.

The announcement comes in the backdrop of India’s merchandise exports declining by 6.05 per cent to $26.13 billion in August compared to the year-ago month.

Sitharaman said there will be a fully automated electronic refund route for input tax credits (ITC) in GST. This will be implemented by the month-end. The move is aimed at quick and automated refunds of ITC.

She said the RoDTEP will replace the existing incentive schemes and “will more than adequately incentivise exporters than the existing schemes put together”.

She said the revenue foregone towards the scheme is projected at Rs 50,000 crore.