To address the issue of container shortage in the country, exporters have sought an incentive scheme for container manufacturing on the lines of the Production Linked Incentive scheme to encourage domestic manufacturing by addressing some of the cost disadvantages.

Exporters’ body FIEO, in its list of demands for Budget 2022, has also called for an extension of the Emergency Credit Linked Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) that has helped businesses, particularly the MSMEs, deal with the COVID-19 crisis.

“Shortage of containers, abnormal increase in freight and space constraints on ships are impacting our exports. Therefore, the budget should draw a road map for addressing these issues,” according to a statement issued by FIEO on Thursday. Indian exports seem set to reach the milestone of $ 400 billion as the order booking position of exporters across sectors was extremely encouraging, said the release.

Last fiscal, India’s exports were around $291 billion largely owing to Covid-19 disruptions.

The exporters body also proposed developing an Indian shipping line to help meet India’s growing export needs and save on shipping charges. “We may be remitting over $75 bn or more as freight charges this year. An Indian shipping line, which gets 25 per cent of this business can save $17-20 billion on a recurring basis annually,” the release pointed out. This figure will increase as India moves towards trillion-dollar merchandise exports, it pointed out, adding that some tax concessions may be needed so that such ships are encouraged to register in India.

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