In a bid to help exporters to rein in rapidly widening tough global trade and to enhance the ease of doing business, the Finance Ministry is expected to carry on 3 per cent interest subsidy scheme in the forthcoming Budget which was announced in November 2015 for exporters. At present, this subsidy is available to all exports of micro, small and medium enterprises among others. Continuation of the scheme would help exporting sectors such as handicrafts, carpets, tea and rice.
In this regard, Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has stated that the scheme has been very successful and the Finance Ministry too share this view. She said “… Even now there is lot of goodwill about this programme in the finance ministry. We are reminding them … so even in the coming budget, I do not see any issue about this”.
Earlier urging the government to continue with this scheme, Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) has said that the scheme is helping exporters in this tough global situation and we are expecting Rs 2,500 crore in this Budget from the finance ministry. It is important because the cost of credit is still very high in India compared to global benchmarks.