Export projection for FY25 underway, working on ease of doing biz: DGFT

The Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) on Friday said that export projections for the current fiscal are still being finalised while efforts are on to improve the ease of doing business to meet the government's goal of achieving USD 2 trillion in exports by 2030.

Total exports in FY'24 were USD 778 billion, showing a marginal increase from the previous year's exports of USD 776 billion. The Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) has estimated that the country's total exports of goods and services for the current fiscal year could be around USD 890-910 billion.

"Export target for current fiscal is not yet finalised," DGFT Santosh Kumar Sarangi told reporters after interacting with the exporters of Kolkata.

He said that the DGFT's office has submitted a proposal for the extension of the Interest Equalization Scheme, which is set to end in June but it is not yet approved.

The scheme provides pre and post-shipment Rupee export credit, offering a two per cent interest equalization rate for manufacturers and merchant exporters dealing with specified 410 export items, and a higher rate of 3 per cent for MSME manufacturers exporting under any of these items.

FIEO Director General and CEO Ajay Sahai stated that the industry has demanded a restoration of the interest equalization rates to 3 and 5 per cent.

"The rates were reduced when the repo rate was lowered by RBI in the past, but now that the repo rate has increased by two per cent, we have demanded that the original rates be restored. The proposal must be cleared by the Cabinet," Sahai told PTI.

Asked about extending the Remission of Duties and Taxes on Export Products (RoDTEP) to SEZs, Sarangi indicated that it will be extended once they are integrated into the Indian Customs Electronic Gateway (ICEGATE).

It is the national portal of Indian Customs under the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC), which provides e-filing services to the trade, cargo carriers, and other trading partners electronically.

The DGFT official also mentioned that issues related to exporters with the Export Data Processing and Monitoring System (EDPMS), a platform used by banks in India to report export transactions, are due to technical glitches and will be resolved by July.

Sarangi further said that the first phase of the Trade Connect' e-platform for Indian exporters will be unveiled within the next three months.

This platform will contain all information related to exports, markets, rules, and regulations in a single location. In the second phase, trade finance services will be integrated into the platform.