gems and jewellery exporters on Tuesday demanded reduction of import duty on gold, silver and platinum bars to 4 per cent in the upcoming budget. In a pre-budget meeting with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, the Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council said the Indian gems and jewellery industry contributes to about 10 per cent of the total merchandise exports. He said, however, the industry is currently facing some challenges due to the geopolitical scenario, remuneration scheme and issues related to sourcing of rough diamonds. In such a situation, the council urged the government to take measures to revive exports in this sector.
Demand to reduce import duty to 4%
The industry demanded reduction of import duty on gold, silver and platinum bars to 4 per cent and introduction of duty drawback scheme on export of platinum jewellery to take advantage of India-UAE Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement. The council also requested to start sale of rough diamonds in Special Notified Zones (SNZ).
Piyush Goyal will hold a meeting on Thursday
On the other hand, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal will hold a meeting with representatives of various export promotion councils on Thursday to discuss measures to boost the country’s exports. An industry official said that representatives of export organizations, including the apex body of export organizations Federation of Indian Export Organizations (FIEO) and Leather Export Council, will attend the meeting. According to an export council official, they will raise other issues in the meeting, including the extension of the interest rebate scheme, production based incentive (PLI) scheme for the leather and footwear sector and request for changes in customs duty in some sectors. Despite global uncertainties, India’s exports have grown well.
Merchandise exports increased by 9.1 percent in May
According to government data, India’s merchandise exports grew 9.1 percent to $38.13 billion in May. At the same time, the trade deficit reached a seven-month high of $23.78 billion during this period. Despite economic uncertainties at the global level, the better performance of various sectors like engineering, electronics, medicine, textiles and plastics helped in registering good growth in exports.
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