Maran assurance to leather exporters

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, JUNE 9. The Commerce and Industry Minister, Mr. Murasoli Maran, on Friday assured a delegation of leather exporters that he would take up with the Finance Minister, Mr. Yashwant Sinha, the issue of keeping the new duty drawback rates in abeyance.

The leather exporters urged that the new all industry rates of duty drawback, notified a few days ago, be deferred to prevent adverse impact on exports. They said there was no rationale for drastically reducing the drawback ad valorem rates and ceiling on eligibility.

The delegation, led by the chairman of the Council for Leather Exports, Mr. Irshad Mirza, said the aim of the drawback scheme was to compensate actual duties suffered on various inputs for export products.

The new rates totally defeated this objective. If these were implemented, it argued, there would be a setback to the Government strategy of producing and exporting value added leather products and also entering major international markets with high-end quality products.

The delegation informed the Minister that the leather export sector had just begun recovering from the recession experienced from 1995 to 2000. It could export about Rs. 10,000 crores worth of products only during 2000-2001. At this stage, it said, the new drawback rates have come as a rude shock to the industry.

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Section  : National
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