Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu has promised exporters of taking up the Goods and Service Tax (GST) refund issue with the Finance Ministry. He said exporters have claimed that over 60 percent of their refunds are still stuck with the government and also complained that the delay in GST refund has blocked their working capital. In order to address the issues, he has asked exporters to provide details of pending refund.
The minister has said that apart from refunds, exporters also raised issues related to increasing logistics costs and inadequate infrastructure at ports. Further, he indicated that the government has sanctioned GST refunds to exporters to the tune of Rs 17,616 crore till March. He noted that of this, Rs 9,604 crore is on account of integrated GST refund and another Rs 5,510 crore is on a ccount of refund on input credit. He added that another Rs 34,000 crore has been refunded on account of duty drawback and Rebate of State Levies (ROSL).
Prabhu further stated that Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) is of the view that the refund filing mechanism should be made fully online and the pending GST refund released immediately to help exporters tide over the cash crunch. Besides, he asked FIEO members to prepare a detailed action plan of all sectors and sub-sectors suggesting ways to promote their exports. He said that the Centre is also involving States to further boost the country’s exports. He also informed that a ministerial meeting would be held to discuss issues pertaining to outbound shipments.