Aug. 30 – India has decided to extend the tax rebate scheme available for exporters from the end of this year until June 30, 2011 while also adding other benefits to boost trade.

The new incentives will cost the government an estimated US$214 million with tax rebates to cover textiles, leather and jute exporters. Exporters will be able to continue applying for rebates on selected import taxes following the Duty Entitlement Passbook Scheme.

Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma said in a statement that the country is on the path to achieve its export aim of US$200 billion by March 2011, although the global environment remains uncertain.

“There is still a shroud of uncertainty over the fragile nature of the global economic recovery. Even as global economic rebalancing is proceeding apace, it is not going to be an easy patch for our exporters,” Sharma said.

Despite this, exports have been showing positive growth in the last few months with merchandise exports in August expanding by 13.2 percent to US$16.24 billion, compared to the previous year.