NEW DELHI: The Government has extended duty benefits to non-basmati rice exporters under a scheme to boost the shipment of the agri commodity. The duty benefit is provided under the commerce ministry's Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS).

 

"Non-basmati rice items have been made eligible for MEIS benefits at the rate of 5 per cent for exports made with effect from November 26 and up to March 25, 2019," the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) has said in a public notice. Under MEIS, Government provides duty credit scrip or certificate depending on product and Country.

 

Those scrips can be transferred or used for payment of a number of duties including the basic customs duty. India is one of the largest exporters of non-basmati rice and in 2017-18, the Country exported 8.63 million tonnes of the rice, which was more than double the quantity of basmati rice exports of 4.05 million tonnes. Non-basmati rice exports during April-February 2018 stood at USD 3.26 billion as against USD 2.53 billion in 2016-17.