DGFT for incentivising Re exports to Iran.

The Directorate General of Foreign Trade has assured makers of electronics and software that their rupee-denominated exports to Iran would receive the same incentives as those to other countries in dollars or other major currencies.

The DGFT’s assurance to the Electronic and Computer Software Promotion Council, an industry lobby, comes as nearly $3 billion in Iranian arrears have accumulated since 2010, when the US and the EU tightened sanctions on the Middle-Eastern country.

India has followed the UN sanctions on the country without following new sanctions imposed by the US and the EU. However, as payments routed through Dubai became more difficult after the sanctions, Iran agreed to settle 45 per cent of its oil trade in rupees.

“There exists scope for export to Iran a number of items from the software and hardware baskets, which that country was importing from third countries,” DK Sareen, executive director of the lobby, said.

The ESC said opportunities for software-makers in Iran include education, e-governance, finance, oil and gas. The country also has “significant” demand for electronics, the body said.

Sareen said Iran could be a hub for software and hardware exports from the country for penetrating further into the CIS countries.

Source : indianexpress.com