In its representation to Santosh Kumar Sarangi, Director General of Foreign Trade, DGFT, FHRAI has requested for extension of the Export Obligation (EO) period for another 6 to 8 years for all past EPCG licences that ended in February 2020. Citing no foreign business to Indian since February 2020, the association has appealed to the DGFT to take a lenient view and push back the EPCG obligations for hotels under the Export Promotion Capital Goods Scheme. It also believes that the extension will help hotels recover the losses suffered over the last two years and generate foreign exchange to meet export obligations.
Also highlighted in the representation, the association requests DGFT to treat payments made by foreigners to hotels in Rupees as foreign exchange earned for the purpose of EPCG scheme, as Deemed Export. “Many of our members have EPCG obligations under the scheme and granting the industry this option will help players to generate foreign exchange to meet export obligations,” says Mr Gurbaxish Singh Kohli, VP, FHRAI.
