AIIEA urges RoDTEP extension to DFIA exporters

The All India Importers and Exporters Association (AIIEA) is pressing the government to extend Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products (RoDTEP) benefits to exporters operating under the Duty-Free Import Authorisation (DFIA) scheme. Recovery notices threaten the financial health of small and medium firms, the association said.

Timothy Bochu, AIIEA Vice-President, said the government removed “products manufactured under the Advance Authorisation or DFIA” from the list of ineligible products under RoDTEP on March 11, 2024. DFIA exporters began claiming benefits, and Customs authorities processed the claims without objection, crediting eligible amounts to exporters' electronic ledgers.

AIIEA argues DFIA exporters face discrimination compared with peers under the Advance Authorisation and Special Economic Zones schemes. All three categories incur unreimbursed duties and taxes during manufacturing, Bochu said. Denying RoDTEP benefits to DFIA exporters while extending them to the other groups “runs contrary to the objective of the scheme,” which was designed to refund embedded duties and make Indian exports globally competitive.