Export subsidies up by Rs 2,000 cr

The government on Wednesday provided an additional Rs 2,000 crore to lift the country’s export sector from the current morass.

It also promised to clear pending claims of exporters expeditiously. The efforts are intended to perk up India's merchandise exports that has declined 1.4 per cent to $72.46 billion in the April-June (2013) period.

"A number of steps are under way to augment exports. I have offered Commerce Minister Anand Sharma full support and provided additional funds of Rs 2,000 crore today. This will include increasing the interest subvention from 2 per cent to 3 per cent on certain exports," Finance Minister P Chidambaram told reporters here. The interest subsidy will be available to exporters from Thursday itself.

The measures were promptly welcomed by exporters body, the Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO), which said the steps  will help in reducing the cost of credit and adding to competitiveness of exports.

FIEO President Rafeeque Ahmed, however, demanded  an immediate implementation of Padmanabhan Committee recommendations for bringing exports under priority sector and also sought an export development fund with sizable corpus for aggressive marketing. The Finance Ministry has also provided Rs 450 crore to meet the additional expenses for the remaining part of the current fiscal on account of hiking interest subsidy to 3 per cent. “About Rs 1,550 crore was the last year's balance which would be paid under various incentive programmes,” Chidambaram said.

Earlier, announcing the scheme, Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma said the government is making available the required resources to clear all claims of the exporters...and the provisions are being made to ensure that claims of the all the exporters are settled forthwith.

Sharma said the government was also considering raising plan allocation for Market Access Initiative, Market Development Assistance and Central Assistance to States for Developing Export Infrastructure and other Allied Activities Scheme.