Carpet Exporters Urged Textile Minister to Release Pending Claims, GST Refunds

COVID-19 Pandemic is causing a lot of damage to the world, due to it most of the industries have been put on halt and carpet exporters are struggling to recover and regain their strength in the global market. They recently requested the Government to expedite the release of pending duty drawback claims and GST refund payments Get to know about official GST refund process under GST regime as finalized by the GST Council. We have included terms and conditions of all aspects. Read more. As per news recently a virtual meeting was organized by Textile Minister Smriti Irani, In this meeting, the sector made a case for a cap on increased airfare charges and asked for permission to organize a virtual global fair.

Siddh Nath Singh, Chairman of Carpet Export Promotion Council said that “Our duty drawback and GST refunds are pending for four-six months which has put a strain on carpet manufacturers who don’t have enough finances to carry on their businesses. We urged the Textile Ministry to ensure that the promise made to us earlier by the Finance Ministry for early release of the pending money is honored,”.

Siddh Nath Singh pointed out that the customs department was directing exporters to send their shipment agents to receive payment, which was completely inappropriate. He added that “When export consignments are sent, the Customs officials check all documents and goods before issuing the shipping bill. Why do they now need an agent to answer additional queries before releasing payment?”.

Now after all the lockdowns, government-provided more relaxation on restrictions, and hence many carpet units and business houses have re-started their operations but they are facing problems because the business had reported less than 1/4 of normal businesses. Siddh Nath Singh added that “Our main buyers are the US and Europe. The US was already stressed due to Covid-19 and now it is also facing disruptions due to protests. Demand in Europe has also not been restored. Most units that are working are mainly delivering older orders,”.

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As per reports and according to government data, Carpet exports were worth ₹744.67 crores in April 2019, but now due to the lockdowns and restrictions, it went down around 90 percent in April with ₹68.18 crores. In last Financial year, carpet export from our country was reported around worth ₹12,000 crores but during the current financial year the figure could be significantly low. The slowdown and struggle are expected to cause bad effects on the living of an estimated 20 lakh workers and artisans.

Exporters are facing one more problem which is a spike in transportation charges on airways following the relaxation of restrictions. The CEPC in this matter stated that air charges had gone up to three-four times and were destabilizing their costs. Singh said in this matter that “The Minister assured us that the matter will be taken up with the Civil Aviation Ministry soon,”.

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The CEPC also requested the Textile Ministry to give permission for organizing a virtual fair where global buyers can participate in this online fair and they will be also able to place orders. Singh further added that “We are in a situation where foreign buyers are afraid to come to India and our exporters, too, don’t want to travel. One way for business to go on is through virtual fairs,”.