Wool players demand duty drawback rates

Indian wool products makers have asked the Centre to raise

duty drawback rates by at least 5 per cent across the board to boost exports in the current scenario. “The central government should take measures such as raising the duty drawback rates for exporters at least by 5 per cent to revive exports as the target set for wool exports for current fiscal does not look achievable in the wake of slowdown in the Europe and US which are the major markets for us,” Wool and Woollens Export Promotion Council (WWEPC) Chairman, Ashok Jaidka said.

The current duty drawback rate, which is a refund of import duty on raw material, varies between 4 and 10 per cent on wide range of wool and woolen items. Hit by the economic slowdown woes in European countries and the US, Indian exports for the first quarter of current fiscal fell by 5 per cent in rupee terms and 14 per cent in US dollar terms. Indian export of wool and wool blended products for a period between April and June went down to Rs 112.20 crores from Rs 129.96 crores in corresponding period of last fiscal.

However, the export of wool and wool blended products during 2011-12 was Rs 2,434.16 crores against the export of Rs 2,012.13 crores for 2010-11. He added that for the current fiscal, the Ministry of Textiles has fixed export target of $750 million (Rs 3,878 crores) for the Council.

During 2011-12, the Council had participated in four international trade fairs in different countries to promote the exports and for the current year, the council also chalked out ambitious export promotional programme across the world.