India to restore RoDTEP benefits for AA, EOU & SEZ exports from June 1
Government of India has reinstated Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products (RoDTEP) scheme benefits for Advance Authorisation (AA) holders, Export-Oriented Units (EOUs), and Special Economic Zone (SEZ) units. Applicable from June 1, 2025, the move aims to strengthen India's export competitiveness and ensure parity across all exporter categories.
These benefits had earlier lapsed on February 5, 2025. Their restoration signals the government's ongoing commitment to boosting merchandise exports by offsetting unrefunded embedded duties and taxes. Since its launch on January 1, 2021, the WTO-compliant scheme has disbursed over ₹57,976.78 crore (~$6.8 billion), the Ministry of Commerce & Industry said in a press release.
Indian government has reinstated RoDTEP benefits for AA holders, EOUs and SEZ units from June 1. The move aims to enhance export competitiveness and ensure parity across exporter categories. Earlier withdrawn in February 2025, the scheme has disbursed over ₹57,976.78 crore (~$6.8 billion) since 2021. For FY26, ₹18,233 crore is allocated to support a wide range of HS lines via a digital platform.
For FY26, ₹18,233 crore has been earmarked to support exports under 10,780 HS lines for Domestic Tariff Area and 10,795 HS lines for AA/EOU/SEZ segments. The scheme is operated through a fully digital platform to ensure transparency and ease of access for exporters.
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STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The United Kingdom officially returned Hong Kong to Chinese sovereignty after more than 150 years of British colonial rule on July 1, 1997. In 1867, the Dominion of Canada was officially established uniting three British colonies namely Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and the Province of Canada. Here is all that happened on this day. GST is implemented in India Indians had been paying several taxes to the Central and State governments for a long time. These were not just complicated but confused the taxpayers as well. Thus, to simplify and make these taxes manageable the government implemented the Goods and Services Tax on July 1, 2017. The move marked a monumental shift in the nation's indirect taxation system. GST included multiple tax slabs like 0 per cent, 5 per cent, 12 per cent, 18 per cent and 28 per cent. Representational image/PTI GST was launched at a special midnight session of Parliament, symbolising a 'one nation, one tax' system. It was praised for bringing transparency, reducing tax evasion and enhancing ease of doing business. The implementation was facilitated by the GST Council, a constitutional body comprising the Union Finance Minister and representatives of all states. Before GST, businesses had to deal with various taxes such as excise duty, service tax, Vat, octroi and more , levied by both the central and state governments. This resulted in tax-on-tax (cascading effect), compliance issues and price inflation. It accumulated over 17 central and state taxes and 23 cesses into one tax, streamlining the taxation process. GST included multiple tax slabs like 0 per cent, 5 per cent, 12 per cent, 18 per cent and 28 per cent to balance affordability and revenue needs. While essential items were kept in lower slabs, luxury goods and sin items attracted higher rates . 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11 hours ago
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8 years of GST: How automation has changed the refund game for exporters
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Automation of Integrated GST (IGST) refunds paid by Customs has greatly helped in faster processing of IGST refunds on exports, and this has not only reduced the time taken in processing and payment of IGST refunds but has also resulted in certainty and reduced costs, thus adding to the ease of doing business. The Customs system processes refunds through a verification mechanism where human intervention is reduced to the minimum, while retaining simplicity of the mechanism. The GST law provides that the shipping bill itself is an application for refund of IGST paid on the export goods, and that a refund application is deemed to have been filed only when the transport manifest for the export of goods has been filed by the shipper or carrier, and the GST return has been filed by the taxpayer. Similar to excise law, there is a requirement of proof of export, ie the verification of the actual export of goods, but this is now totally automated and there is no additional paperwork requirement for proof of export. The shipping bill and filing of export manifest is prima facie evidence of physical export of goods from the country. Similarly, the GST return takes care of verification of payment of tax on the goods or inputs. The exporter still has the option both of exporting goods without payment of GST (export under a letter of undertaking) similar to the earlier mechanism of export under bond, and seeking refund of taxes paid on the input from the GST officer, as well as the option of paying IGST and taking a refund of IGST paid from Customs. The simplicity and speed of processing of IGST refunds has made the export of goods under payment a popular mode, as the exporter is not worried about locking up of their finances, or an adverse impact on their working capital. The average time taken for payment of IGST refund from the Customs system is less than one week once the exporter has filed their GST returns and the shipping line has filed the manifests (about 5 weeks on average for both). On the other hand, the time taken at the GST side for refund through GST authorities is almost 90 days, according to the latest data. Of course, one of the reasons for the time taken is that on the GST side, the refund is filed periodically, ie for a tax period together, whereas in the Customs system, each export shipping bill becomes a refund application. However, the faster processing of IGST refunds on the Customs side naturally leads to expectations of faster processing and payment of refunds by GST officers. Earlier, exporters often preferred the procedure of export under bond/letter of undertaking, as there was no requirement of paying the tax, and then seeking refund. 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Since GST refunds are being given for a number of purposes, the expectation that the time taken has to be reduced across — regardless of the reason for refund — is also natural, and that should remain the aim. In fact, the data shows that the average time taken in processing GST refund (across all categories of refunds) is 48 days (compared with 90 days taken to process IGST refunds in case of export on payment of IGST). Finally, in the Customs system, processing of some payments such as drawback is risk-analysis-based and only shipping bills selected by the system are pushed to an officer for processing, and the remaining bills are auto-processed. The time has come to contemplate a similar risk-based approach for GST.
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Goyal discusses FTAs with industry, exporters ahead of key trade talks
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