Indian textile and apparel trade body Tirupur Exporters Association (TEA) has sought help from the Union Minister of Textiles Smriti Z Irani for the release of RoSL (Remission of State Levies) refunds payable to Tirupur’s apparel exporters.
Notably, the trade association has also made representations to TMO, Union Minister of Finance and Union Minister of State for Finance including Textile Secretary and Special Secretary for Textiles on the matter.
“As far as Tirupur exporting units are concerned, RoSL refund claims of about Rs. 525 crores are pending,” TEA President Raja M Shanmugham informs Apparel Resources.
TEA has been receiving complaints from its member-exporters on the long-pending claims of RoSL amount and as per their understanding the refund was given till the month of May 2017 while some of the exporting units have received till March 2017 only, tells Shanmugham.
The delay has resulted in a heavy backlog; especially for the exporting units whose day-to-day operations and other financial commitments are based on the RoSL have got affected significantly.
Further, Shanmugham says that the average RoSL amount required from 20th September 2016 to 31st March 2018 is around Rs. 4,635 crores against the actual allotted amount of Rs. 2,255 crore for this period – a shortage of Rs. 2,345 crores for the readymade garment sector.
Notably, the Government had allotted Rs. 400 crores in FY 2016-17 for the RoSL scheme, whilst the original allotment for 2017-18 was Rs. 1,555 crores that was later enhanced to Rs. 1,855 crores in the revised Union Budget. The RoSL allocation of Rs. 2,164 crores for FY 2018-19 would meet the next year requirements, the TEA Chief points out.
TEA has worked out the RoSL Payment Status after assuming that all the exporters have opted for the RoSL Scheme and the average rate has been taken as 3.2% till 30th September 2017 and 1.4% from 1st October 2017, Shanmugham apprises Apparel Resources.
Extolling the Union Textile Minster’s support, Shanmugham, however, also maintains that the essential measures like increase in duty credit scrip from 2% to 4% under Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS) and allocation of more fund to meet out the RoSL requirement for the next FY 2018-19 will surely provide some relief to the sector in the current challenging business environment.