Exporters expect Budget will provide assistance to arrest slowing exports: President FIEO

Ludhiana: The export data for past two-three months, which are showing low or marginal growth, is a matter of concern to all. This is stated by Mr Ganesh Kumar Gupta, President, Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO). Mr Gupta expects that the budget, though an interim one, will unveil certain benefits, particularly for MSME sector, and for those specific product clusters and research & development, which will help in increasing exports, giving boost to manufacturing and job creation. Exporters have to still bear the taxes on petroleum and electricity, state levies such as Mandi Tax, etc. and the Budget will provide measures for refund of the same to exporters, hoped the FIEO President. He is of the view that promoting exports in the budget and giving it a much needed support at a time when global economy is facing slowdown, will come as a morale booster for the sector. Employment creation is the biggest challenge in the country and therefore budget should provide tax concession to units which create jobs in the country. Every incremental creation of jobs should provide tax deduction equivalent to the employees cost to unit, said Mr Gupta. President FIEO emphasized that with a view to double farmers’ income, the Budget should allocate substantial fund for backward and forward linkages in agriculture including in cold chains and warehouses so that India build on a stable Agri Export Policy, announced earlier. FIEO Chief added that we are looking towards USD 2 trillion of exports and imports by 2025. This requires huge marketing support through a planned “Export Development Fund” with a corpus of at least 0.5% of the export value so that exporters can be supported in their aggressive marketing.