Garment exporters welcome PM's assurance on tax
Wednesday, 08 December 2004, 20:30 IST
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NEW DELHI: India's garment exporters have won a major reprieve with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh saying a new tax on them would not be imposed retrospectively. Earlier, the government had said that the income tax on sales under the Duty Entitlement Pass Book (DEPB) licence would be levied with retrospective effect. Speaking to a group of textile and garment exporters Monday, Manmohan Singh said he would give immediate instructions to ensure the tax was not levied retrospectively. The delegation, led by Francis George, an MP of the Kerala Congress (Joseph), told the prime minister that the issue was festering for some time and was causing a lot of heartburn to India's textile exporting community. George pointed out that 75 percent of exporters belonged to the small and medium categories and that most of them had opted for the DPEB scheme while larger exporters preferred the duty drawback scheme. "The assurance will go a long way in restoring the confidence of small and medium scale exporters in commitments made by the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government for encouraging exports in the labour intensive textile sector," George told IANS. The exporters were also impressed by the positive response from the prime minister. "It's a major achievement for us. Taking a bold approach in solving the issue as a single window clearance without passing the buck to the finance ministry will send out strong signals to exporters that this government fully backs them," said Jacob Samuel, former chairman of the Indian Silk Export Promotion Council. Samuel pointed out that India's share in the world textile business was a mere four percent, while China's was 25 percent.
Source: IANS
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