Export of Tractors at an all-time high; sees a growth of almost 72% since 2013

Budget 2022 endeavours to create level playing field for domestic tractor

Budget 2022 also paves way for capacity creation in tractor manufacturing

India’s export of Tractors rose by more than 72 % to USD 1025 Million during April-December 2021 compared to USD 594 Million during April-December 2013. 

The major destination for export of tractors is U S A (25.2%), Nepal (7.3%), Bangladesh (6.5%), Thailand (5.4%) & Sri Lanka (5.3%)

The Economic Survey 2017-18 stated that Indian tractor industries have emerged as the largest in the world and account for about one-third of total global tractor production. Budget 2022 proposed to phase out the concessional rates in capital goods and project imports gradually. This is another step towards creating level playing field for domestic manufacturers and capacity creation in the sector which includes tractors.

India has been seeing consistent growth in exports. It may be noted that India’s merchandise exports in January 2022 increased by 23.69% to USD 34.06 billion over USD 27.54 billion in January 2021; recording an increase of 31.75% over USD 25.85 billion in January 2020.

India’s merchandise export in 2021-22 (April-January) rose by 46.53% to USD 335.44 billion over USD 228.9 billion in 2020-21 (April-January); marking an increase of 27.0% over USD 264.13 billion in 2019-20 (April-January).

The Government has taken a number of proactive and effective measures since 2014 to boost the India’s export. A new Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) 2015-20 was launched on 1st April 2015. The policy, inter alia, rationalised the earlier export promotion schemes and introduced two new schemes, namely Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS) for improving export of goods   and ‘Services Exports from India Scheme (SEIS)’ for increasing exports of services. Duty credit scrips issued under these schemes were made fully transferable.

The mid-term review (2017) of the Foreign Trade Policy (2015-20) was carried out and corrective measures were undertaken.

Foreign Trade Policy (2015-20) extended by one year i.e. upto 31-3-2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic situation.

A new Logistics Division was created in the Department of Commerce for integrated development of the logistics sector. 

Interest Equalization Scheme on pre and post shipment rupee export credit was introduced from 1.4.2015 to provide cheaper credit to exporters.

The Government started implementing a Niryat Bandhu Scheme with an objective to reach out to the new and potential exporters including exporters from Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) and mentor them through orientation programmes, counselling sessions, individual facilitation, etc., on various aspects of foreign trade for enabling them to get into international trade and boost exports from India.

Assistance provided through several schemes to promote exports, namely, Trade Infrastructure for Export Scheme (TIES) and Market Access Initiatives (MAI) Scheme.

A comprehensive “Agriculture Export Policy” was launched on 6th December, 2018 to provide an impetus to agricultural exports.

A Central Sector Scheme, ‘Transport and Marketing Assistance for Specified Agriculture Products’ was launched for providing assistance for the international component of freight to mitigate the freight disadvantage for the export of agriculture products.

Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products (RoDTEP) scheme and Rebate of State and Central Levies and Taxes (RoSCTL) Scheme have been implemented with effect from 01.01.2021.

Common Digital Platform for Certificate of Origin has been launched to facilitate trade and increase Free Trade Agreement (FTA) utilization by exporters.

12 Champion Services Sectors have been identified for promoting and diversifying services exports by pursuing specific action plans.

Districts as Export Hubs has been launched by identifying products with export potential in each district, addressing bottlenecks for exporting these products and supporting local exporters/manufacturers to generate employment in the district.

Active role of Indian missions abroad towards promoting India’s trade, tourism, technology and investment goals has been enhanced.

Package has been announced in light of the COVID pandemic to support domestic industry through various banking and financial sector relief measures, especially for MSMEs, which constitute a major share in exports.

Level playing field for domestic manufacturers: Budget 2022 phases out concessional import rates to boost capacity. Budget 2022 proposes to phase out concessional rates in capital goods and project imports gradually to create a level playing field for domestic manufacturers and enable capacity creation in sectors including tractor manufacturing. This policy change is contextualised within a broader set of export-promotion and trade-facilitation measures introduced since 2014, including the Foreign Trade Policy, export incentive schemes with transferable duty credit scrips, interest equalization on export credit, logistics reforms, remission and rebate schemes, and digital facilitation for certificates of origin.