EEPC India (formerly the Engineering Exports Promotion Council of India) has submitted a proposal to the government seeking a re-imbursement of the price differential between international and domestic prices to give exporters some relief in the aftermath of the MIP implementation, an official from the organisation told ISMW.
“Basically, the exporters want to get the steel at international price points, which are much lower. Otherwise, how will they be able to compete in the market? Thus, we want an International Price Reimbursement Scheme (IPRS) to be immediately introduced,” said Arun Kumar Garodia, Regional Chairman, EEPC India.
“We have requested the re-imbursement as a kind of a money-back system,” Garodia informed, adding: “We recently submitted this proposal to the government and are yet to hear from it.”
Basically, it is a compensatory mechanism that EEPC is seeking from the government to make up for the increased raw material prices which the distressed exporters, mostly in the SME segments, will be made to bear, following the protection given to the large steel manufacturers.
EEPC India feels, introduction of the minimum import price on steel products will raise the cost of raw materials for engineering products by 6-10% depending upon the nature of the product. It said, this will have a serious debilitating impact on engineering exports which have already declined by a huge 15% in the first nine months of the current
fiscal.