The country's exports dipped for the 14th month in a row, down 13.6% in January to $21 billion (nearly Rs 1.44 crore).
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley may announce in the Budget 2016 on Monday certain steps like extending the benefit of interest subsidy scheme to more sectors to boost exports, which have been in the negative zone since December 2014. It may also look into the demands of Special Economic Zone (SEZ) players who have sought a reduction or even remove the minimum alternative tax (MAT).
The apex exporters' body FIEO said that they expect several steps in the Budget 2016 for boosting exports.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will present the Union Budget 2016-17 statement on February 29, Monday.
"I expect that the Finance Minister would extend the 3% interest subsidy scheme benefit to merchant exporters and steps to reduce transactions cost which is also impacting exports," Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) Director General Ajay Sahai told PTI.
The country's exports dipped for the 14th month in a row, down 13.6% in January to $21 billion (nearly Rs 1.44 crore) due to a fall in shipments of petroleum and engineering goods, although trade deficit showed improvement.
The Commerce Ministry has strongly pitched for removal of MAT (18.5%) on SEZs as it has impacted the growth of these zones.
During April-September, this fiscal, exports from these zones stood at Rs 2.21 lakh crore as against Rs 4.63 lakh crore in 2014-15.
Besides, it has suggested that the sunset clause should not be invoked for SEZs as it would have an adverse bearing on exports from these zones.The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) had last year proposed a removal of facilities and incentives to SEZs by March 31, 2017. These zones contribute about 25% in the country's total exports.
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 "Finance Minister Arun Jaitley")
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