Ease of doing business: Govt eases norm for availing export benefits

Exporters have been relieved from submitting the landing certificate of goods to avail benefits under the Merchandise Exports India Scheme (MEIS), a move aimed at facilitating ease of doing business.

"MEIS Scheme covers 5,012 lines (or products). 2,787 lines required submission of proof of landing as reward was not available for all markets. Henceforth, landing certificate shall not be required under MEIS,"

Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) said in a notification.

The move is aimed at improving ease of doing business in the country to promote exports, which are in the negative zone since December 2014.

Under the scheme, the government provides duty benefits at 2%, 3% and 5% depending upon the product and country.

Declining for a 16th straight month in March, exports contracted by 5.47% to $ 22.71 billion as shipments of petroleum and engineering products shrank sharply due to tepid global demand.

For the entire 2015-16 fiscal, exports declined by 15.8% to a five-year low of $ 261.13 billion.