In a bid to lend support to sagging exports, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram on Wednesday approved additional funds of Rs 2,000 crore in the form of interest sops for clearing dues and a rise in the rate of interest subvention.
As much as Rs 1,550 crore would be used to clear existing dues and the remaining Rs 450 crore would go towards interest subvention rate hike from 2 per cent to 3 per cent, Chidambaram told reporters here.
The interest subvention rate hike will apply to all sectors under the existing scheme, he said.
Earlier in the day, Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma said that the Government was looking to expand the interest subvention scheme to cover more sectors.
“We want to expand the scheme to cover more sectors. New products will be included based on the need and available funds,” Sharma said.
The Government is also considering enhancing funding under the Market Access Initiative and Market Development Assistance to help exporters explore new markets and consolidate their presence in existing ones, the Minister said.
Sharma has convened a meeting of Board of Trade (BoT) on August 27 to review the current situation and the international trade scenario.