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The Centre has added 60 new products and three new countries to the market-linked focus product scheme (MLFPS) as part of its efforts to boost merchandise exports.
The 60 new products added include engineering, rubber, textiles, drugs and pharmaceuticals. The three new countries are Thailand, Taiwan and the Czech Republic.
This forms part of the incentive package rolled out to exporters recently by Commerce Minister Anand Sharma.
The MLFPS seeks to incentivise export of products that have high employment intensity in rural and semi-urban areas.
Under the scheme, duty credit of two per cent of free on board (FOB) value of exports in foreign exchange is handed out to exporters of select products to select countries.
In June, the Centre had added 46 products and 12 new countries under the MLFPS. The 12 countries then added were Bhutan, Myanmar, Nepal, Syria, Sri Lanka, Iraq, Argentina, Austria, Bulgaria, Germany, Israel and Portugal.
Focus Products Scheme
For the apparel sector, the validity of MLFPS was extended from April 2012 to March 31, 2013 for exports to the US and the European Union.
Already, over 5,000 products are covered under the MLFPS.
The Centre has also added more than 100 new products to the Focus Products Scheme (FPS). The products added include engineering, textiles, chemicals, drugs, pharmaceuticals, paper, books, publication and printed material.
Under the FPS, exports of select products that have high export intensity/employment potential are incentivised. A duty credit of two per cent of FOB value is given for the identified products irrespective of the country of their export.
Reacting to the Government move to enlarge the scope of products and markets under the MLFPS, A. Sakthivel, Chairman of Apparel Export Promotion Council, said it would help boost exports to non-traditional markets and help in product diversification.
Export dip
For the April-November period, exports of readymade garments, engineering products, gem and jewellery and petroleum products saw a decline (in dollar terms) compared with the same period last year.
Exports of these sectors for the January-November period too saw a decline in dollar terms year-on-year.
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