Ludhiana industrialists raise concerns of exporters with Union minister

Raising concerns over problems being faced by exporters in availing benefits under Union government schemes due to rising prices of steel, the Chamber of Industrial and Commercial Undertaking (CICU) submitted a memorandum with Union minister of state for commerce and industry Som Prakash at the office of Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) on Thursday

Raising concerns over problems being faced by exporters in availing benefits under Union government schemes due to rising prices of steel, the Chamber of Industrial and Commercial Undertaking (CICU) submitted a memorandum with Union minister of state for commerce and industry Som Prakash at the office of Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) on Thursday.

Industrialists from Ludhiana say that unprecedented rise in cost of steel is taking a toll on their business. (Bloomberg)

The industrialists also demanded that the Union government rollback the hike in goods and services tax (GST) on garments/textile, which has been increased from 5% to 12%.

CICU general secretary Pankaj Sharma said that exporters are facing problems in availing grants or benefits under different schemes including Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS) and Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products (RoDTEP). Further, the rising cost of shipping is also taking a toll on the business.

Unprecedented increase in prices of steel and untimely increase in the GST rate on garments notified by the union government will make the survival of exporters difficult in the international market, said Sharma, while adding that the minister has assured that the issues will be taken up at the government level.