New Delhi, Jan 24 (KNN) The northern region engineering exporters expect that the Union Budget will bring some necessary fiscal steps to boost the exports that are hit by demonetization and GST.

The engineering industry which comprises of hand tools, agriculture equipment, auto parts, casting and forgings, cycle parts and textile equipment etc is dominated by the SMEs. Around 40% of engineering exports come from the MSME sector across the country and the total turnover of exports from the region is around Rs 25000-Rs 30000 crore.

The industry, which is already struggling with high steel prices, has the following demands:

• To Fast track the process of GST Refund as major portion of exporter’s working capital got struck which is affecting the competitiveness of exports.
• To provide Transport/Freight subsidy as significant amount of money spent on transportation of goods and Prices charged inclusive of transportation cost increases the export price due to which exporters losing out business as compared to their competitors.
• To keep prices in control as Industries are cutting down their production due to uncertainty in steel prices. Upkar Singh Ahuja, president, Chamber of Industrial and Commercial Undertaking, said “ the daily increase in the prices of steel is hitting the MSME units manufacturing auto parts, bicycles and its parts, sewing machines, electrical machinery, textile machinery, fasteners, hand tools and other products.”
• Provide impetus to markets through tax deductions acc to Federation of Indian Exporters, as many countries have become extremely aggressive to push their exports. “Unfortunately, we have very meager allocation for Market Access Initiative (MAI) Scheme which supports export marketing,” said a senior official in the FIEO. He further added that “the FIEO has proposed the creation of an Export Development Fund to the tune of at least 0.5% of total exports to help export markets or alternatively, the government may provide 100% tax deduction on the expenditure incurred by the exporters for overseas marketing which will help in showcasing the Indian products overseas.”

(KNN/YV)