To promote exports from India, the Government of India had announced certain schemes like Focus Market Scheme, Focus Product Scheme and Vishesh Krishi and Gram Udyog Yojana under the Foreign Trade Policy. Under these schemes, export incentives are allowed to eligible exporters in the form of duty credit scrip at prescribed percentage of the value of goods and services exported.
Vide these notifications, exemption has been provided to services provided or agreed to be provided against duty credit scrip by a person located in taxable territory to a scrip holder subject to certain conditions specified therein.
These duty credit scrips were earlier used only for procuring duty free goods from overseas or domestic market subject to available duty credit. However, now these duty credit scrips can be used for payment of service tax on procurement of services within the legal framework of the aforesaid service tax exemption notifications. Further, a holder of the scrip shall be entitled to avail of drawback or CENVAT credit of the service tax debited in the scrips as per the rules specified in the aforesaid notifications.