Crisis in West Asia sea route: Export ships returning midway, impact of Rs 3000 crore on UP’s trade.

Lucknow . Due to obstruction in the sea route towards West Asia, many export ships sent from India have started returning midway. In view of this situation, the Union Finance Ministry has issued a new circular implementing a special procedure. This is directly impacting the export business of Uttar Pradesh, from where large quantities of agricultural and industrial products are sent to Gulf countries.

The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) has said in a circular issued on March 8 that international sea routes have been affected due to the blockage in the Strait of Hormuz. Many ships are not able to reach their scheduled destinations and have to return to Indian ports.

Under the new arrangement, if a ship is within Indian territorial waters or returns from international waters without stopping at any foreign port, it will be allowed to dock at the same Indian port from where it departed. In such cases the shipping bill and other documents will be examined after unloading the containers. If necessary, the export order (Late Export Order) can also be canceled.

Apart from this, the shipping bills on the basis of which export incentives like IGST refund or draw-back have already been issued will also be recovered. Also, information about this entire process will be shared with Reserve Bank of India (RBI), DGFT and other concerned agencies.

According to experts, a large quantity of rice, wheat products, meat, dairy products, carpets, brass items and readymade garments are exported from Uttar Pradesh to Gulf countries. Most of their transportation is done by sea route. In such a situation, there is a possibility that due to return or delayed arrival of ships, the cost of exporters will increase and the business will also be affected.