Exports incentive scheme MEIS inefficient, failed to deliver, to be wound up by year end

New Delhi: Merchandise Export from India Scheme (MEIS), a key incentive scheme for exports, will be wound up by December 31, 2020 as the government has found it to have failed to deliver and not yield the desired result of boosting exports which have hovered around $300 billion in the last five years despite its liberal application across sectors.

Government sources said the liability under MEIS ballooned from Rs 20,000 crore to about Rs 45,000 crore in FY20 “reaching an unsustainable level”.

The department of revenue has asked the department of commerce to review the coverage of MEIS tariff lines and rates to bring down the incentive level to Rs 9,000 crore this year as post Covid-19, the government faces a fiscal constraint and the limited resources are to be used optimally.