A delegation of handicrafts exporters led by Shri Syed Zafar Islam, Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha) met Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman, Union Finance Minister in presence of Shri Rajkumar Malhotra, Chairman-EPCH and raised various issues like restoration of Duty free Import of essential embellishment, trimmings and tools for handicrafts sector (DFIC), removal of alert on IEC (Risky exporters) and specifically Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products (RoDTEP) rates for Handicrafts sector and requested for a relook at the RoDTEP rates announced recently. Also present were Dr. Rakesh Kumar, Director General-EPCH and Shri Avdesh Agarwal, General Secretary, Moradabad Handicrafts Exporters Association. Shri Malhotra said that the Minister gave a patient hearing in the matter and we hope for a positive outcome of the meeting.
Shri Malhotra informed that the recently announced RoDTEP rates for various handicrafts product categories averaging around 0.7% and since the announcement there has been widespread demand for reconsideration of rates for handicrafts sector. We hope today’s meeting will help us resolving our issues and the sector can continue with the momentum of growth.
Dr. Kumar, said that the provision of Duty-Free Import has helped handicrafts exporters to import items for embellishing their products like lighting and lamps, fashion jewellery, wooden handicrafts and others to enhance the quality and look as per the tastes and preferences in vogue in the international market. New and novelty items have been produced by the handicraft exporters of Moradabad, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Saharanpur and other craft clusters on a regular basis and exported to various countries all across the globe and is of the utmost importance for the exporters of Handicrafts.
Shri Avdesh Agarwal, General Secretary, Moradabad Handicrafts Exporters Association raised the matter regarding Risky exporters and sought Directorate General of Analytics and Risk Management (DGARM) to help facilitate exporters in getting their GST refund. He also raised issue pertaining to the blocked funds under MEIS (although assurances have been issued by Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Govt. of India) and sought an early release of funds to mitigate the problem of blocked capital. He said that today’s meeting will hopefully help us in getting the support for the handicrafts sector and also maintain the exports growth witnessed in recent months.
Dr. Kumar, also extended an invitation to the Finance Minister to the forthcoming 52nd IHGF Delhi Fair- Autumn, 2021 scheduled to be held from 28-31 October, 2021 at India Expo Centre & Mart, Greater Noida, Delhi NCR.
The export figures for April-March of the current financial year 2020-21 are at Rs. 25679.98 crores (USD 3459.75 million) registering a marginal growth of 1.62 % (Rupee terms) and (-) 2.93 % (dollar terms) over the same period last year. However, the provisional figures for the April-August of the current financial year 2021-22 are at Rs. 12342.66 crores (USD 1667.54 million) registering a growth of 71.77% (Rupee terms) and 75.57% (dollar terms).
