Apparel exporters raise GST refund, RoSL issues with FM Goyal

Representatives from Apparel Export Promotion Council today raised issues related to blockage of GST refunds and delay in disbursal of Rebate on State Levies (RoSL) dues in a meeting with Finance Minister Piyush Goyal and Textiles Minister Smriti Irani here.

The country's textile and apparel exports have witnessed a down slide in the last eight months.

A statement issued by the AEPC said that in the two-hour long meeting, the finance minister noted the concerns of the apparel industry with regard to the huge blockages in GST refunds and the slow disbursements in RoSL.

Finance minister has instructed his team to urgently identify central and state embedded taxes and work out a reimbursement mechanism. Also, Ministry will expedite GST and RoSL refunds in a time bound manner, AEPC claimed.

The body further said that Goyal assured all possible support from his ministry to enable growth in exports and job creation by the employment intensive apparel, made ups and textile industries.

According to Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC), due to the blockages of working capital arising because of the blocked GST refunds and slow disbursements in RoSL - the industry has not been able to book orders in the peak season and hence is losing out to its competitors in a big way.

Industry apprised finance minister about the crisis faced across industry in embedded and inverted taxes not being considered for refund as well as the huge delays in receiving GST/ROSL claims. Since over 90 per cent of apparel manufacturers are in the MSME sector with limited financial capability, this has created crippling pressure, said HKL Magu, Chairman, AEPC.

AEPC claimed that the apparel industry has witnessed a reduction in the drawback and RoSL benefits by over 5 per cent of (Freight on Board) FoB since the pre-GST period.

This, coupled with the disadvantage of around 10 per cent faced by the industry vis-a-vis its competitors in the major markets like EU, due to lack of preferential access, had led to India losing out to Bangladesh and Vietnam in a big way, it said.