New Delhi, Aug 19 (KNN) The Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products (RoDTEP) scheme announced by the Government w.e.f. January 1, 2021 will boost export growth in the leather and footwear sector, said Sanjay Leekha, Chairman, Council for Leather Exports (CLE).

“We thank the Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji; Union Minister for Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal ji and Union Minister of Finance Nirmala Sitharaman ji for their support to the export sector. Exports from the leather and footwear sector have achieved 83.74 per cent growth during April – July 2021 when compared to the same period last year. I.e. from 793.05 million dollars in April – July 2020 to 1457.19 million dollars in April – July 2021,'' he said on Wednesday. 

He said that a target of 5888 million dollars has been set for leather & leather manufactures for the current year 2021-22. Going by the current export trends, our industry is confident of achieving this target. 

Leekha also said that at a time when India is viewed as a favourite sourcing destination, thanks to the initiatives and support measures of the Government, the implementation of RoDTEP Scheme will further enhance our price competitiveness and provide fillip to the exports and employment generation.

''The leather and footwear industry will strive hard to achieve the export target this year and maintain the growth momentum in the coming years too,” he concluded.

The government has announced a Rs 12,400-crore outlay for the RoDTEP export promotion scheme.

The Commerce Department announced on August 17 that new export refund rates under RoDTEP would cover 8,555 tariff lines, or individual merchandise products traded by India internationally.