The Narendra Modi government is committed to settling the Rs 56,000 crore tab on export duty refunds in this fiscal, officials told CNBC-TV18 on Tuesday. Officials also explained the head for payment of exporter’s refunds has already been opened in the first supplementary demand for grants under indirect taxes in July, with a token provision of Rs 1 lakh.
It said, "The supplementary grant is required for Duties and Taxes on Exported Products (RoDTEP)/Rebate of State and Central Taxes and Levies (RoSCTL) scheme and to pay off the arrears for Service Exports from India Scheme (SEIS)/Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS) /RoSCTL/Miscellaneous other schemes. A token amount is proposed."
The Rs 19,400 crore of duty refunds proposed under RoDTEP will be over and above the Rs 56,000 crore tab for the government this financial.
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Officials explained the announcement of RoDTEP was delayed as the government was trying to ensure proposed duty refunds are capped under the scheme and not left open-ended like under the MEIS. As the note on the supplementary demands indicates, additional expenditure under RoDTEP, if any, will be taken up at the RE stage of the budget.
Officials dismissed the slowdown felt in government expenditure and said, along with the Rs 56,000 crore exporter refunds, Rs 1.15 lakh crore will be spent additionally on food and fertiliser subsidies this fiscal, taking the total additional spend of the government to Rs 1.71 lakh crore at this stage. This would be roughly 0.8 to 0.9 percent of the GDP.
