Rahul runs a small cotton home-furnishing manufacturing unit in Karur, Tamil Nadu. He exports bedsheets and cushion covers to buyers in the UAE and UK. Every quarter, he notices small credits landing against his shipping bills on ICEGATE — credits he did not fully understand for the first two years of exporting. That scheme is RoDTEP, and it directly affects how much profit exporters like Rahul actually keep on every consignment they ship.
If you are exporting from India — whether textiles, handicrafts, engineering goods, or processed food — RoDTEP is not optional paperwork. It is real money you are entitled to, and skipping it means leaving margin on the table.
| In Short: The RoDTEP (Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products) scheme refunds embedded taxes and duties — like fuel tax, mandi tax, and electricity duty — that exporters pay but cannot claim back under GST or customs law. Refunds come as transferable duty credit scrips, credited to an exporter’s ICEGATE account after each shipping bill is processed, and can be used to pay customs duty or sold to other importers. |
What Is the RoDTEP Scheme?
RoDTEP replaced the older MEIS (Merchandise Exports from India Scheme) in January 2021, after MEIS was found to violate World Trade Organization (WTO) subsidy rules. Unlike MEIS, RoDTEP is designed to be WTO-compliant because it only refunds taxes already paid by the exporter — it is not treated as an export subsidy.
In plain terms: when Rahul buys diesel to run his factory generator, or pays mandi tax on raw cotton, those costs get built into his product price. GST refunds cover some input taxes, but several state and local levies — like fuel VAT, electricity duty, and stamp duty on export documents — are never refunded anywhere else. RoDTEP exists specifically to remit these “hidden” costs, so Indian exports remain price-competitive internationally.
Who Is Eligible for RoDTEP?
Most exporters of manufactured and merchandised goods can claim RoDTEP, with a few exceptions. You are generally eligible if:
- You export goods manufactured in India (not merely re-exported foreign goods)
- Your goods are shipped under a valid shipping bill through ICEGATE
- Your product category appears in the RoDTEP schedule notified by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT)
You are not eligible if your goods fall under excluded categories, which include exports from Special Economic Zones (SEZs) and Export Oriented Units (EOUs) in most cases, goods exported under Advance Authorisation, re-exported imported goods, and a small list of products (like certain steel and pharma categories) currently excluded from the scheme. Always check the latest RoDTEP schedule on the DGFT website against your specific HS code before assuming eligibility — rates and inclusions are revised periodically.
How Are RoDTEP Rates Calculated?
RoDTEP rates are notified as a percentage of the FOB (Free on Board) value of your export, and they vary by product HS code — not a flat rate across all exports. Most rates currently range between 0.3% and 4.3% of FOB value, with a value cap per unit for certain products.
| Worked Example — Rahul’s Cotton Bedsheet Export Rahul ships a container of cotton bedsheets to a UK buyer with an FOB value of ₹9,50,000. Cotton home-furnishing products currently fall in a RoDTEP rate band of around 2.4% to 2.5% of FOB value (subject to the applicable HS code and any per-unit cap notified for that product). At 2.4%, Rahul’s estimated RoDTEP credit works out to roughly ₹22,800 on this single shipment. This is only an illustration — always confirm the exact notified rate and any value cap for your specific HS code before relying on it for planning. |
This credit does not arrive as cash directly. It is issued as a transferable duty credit scrip, which lands in your electronic scrip ledger on ICEGATE after your shipping bill is processed and your export general manifest (EGM) is filed.
How to Claim RoDTEP Benefits
RoDTEP is largely automated once you follow the correct declaration process at the time of shipping — there is no separate application form to fill out later.
- Declare intent on the shipping bill: Select “Y” for RoDTEP in the relevant declaration field when filing your shipping bill through your customs broker or ICEGATE.
- File the shipping bill and EGM: Once customs clears your shipment and the Export General Manifest is filed, the system calculates your provisional RoDTEP credit.
- Credit reflects in your ICEGATE ledger: Log in to your ICEGATE account and check the “RoDTEP credit ledger” — credits usually appear within a few weeks of EGM filing, though timelines vary.
- Generate the scrip: Once sufficient credit accumulates, generate a scrip against one or more shipping bills from the ledger.
- Use or transfer the scrip: Use the scrip to pay basic customs duty on your own imports, or sell/transfer it to another importer through the ICEGATE transfer facility — scrips are freely transferable and effectively function like tradable credit.
If your customs broker files shipping bills on your behalf, always double-check the RoDTEP declaration box before submission. A missed declaration at the shipping bill stage generally cannot be corrected retroactively — this is the single most common reason exporters lose out on credit they were otherwise entitled to.
RoDTEP vs Other Export Incentive Schemes
Exporters often confuse RoDTEP with Duty Drawback and RoSCTL. Here is how they compare:
| Feature | RoDTEP | Duty Drawback (DBK) | RoSCTL |
| Applies to | All export goods (except a few excluded categories) | All export goods | Only textiles & apparel |
| What it refunds | Embedded/hidden taxes not refunded elsewhere (fuel, VAT on power, mandi tax, etc.) | Customs duty + some Central taxes paid on inputs | State & Central embedded taxes for textiles |
| Benefit form | Transferable duty credit scrips (via ICEGATE) | Direct cash refund to bank account | Transferable duty credit scrips |
| Rate basis | % of FOB export value, product-specific | All Industry Rate or brand rate, per shipping bill | % of FOB value, textile-specific |
| Can you claim both RoDTEP and DBK? | Yes, both can usually be claimed together | Yes, alongside RoDTEP | No — RoSCTL replaces RoDTEP for textiles/apparel |
Common Mistakes Exporters Make with RoDTEP
A few patterns show up repeatedly among first-time exporters: forgetting the RoDTEP declaration on the shipping bill, assuming SEZ or Advance Authorisation shipments qualify when they don’t, and letting scrips sit unused for so long that cash flow suffers unnecessarily. We cover these in detail — including a real ₹40,000 claim mistake — in the next article in this series.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Is RoDTEP applicable to all export products?
A: No, RoDTEP applies only to products listed in the DGFT’s notified RoDTEP schedule. Some categories, like SEZ/EOU exports, Advance Authorisation exports, and select excluded products such as certain steel and pharma items, are not covered. Always check your specific HS code against the current schedule before assuming eligibility.
Q: How is RoDTEP different from a GST refund?
A: GST refunds cover Input Tax Credit on GST paid, while RoDTEP covers non-GST embedded costs like fuel tax, electricity duty, and mandi tax that GST refunds never touch. Exporters typically claim both GST refunds and RoDTEP together, since they cover different cost components.
Q: Can RoDTEP scrips be converted to cash?
A: RoDTEP scrips cannot be directly converted to cash by the government, but they are freely transferable. Most small exporters sell unused scrips to importers who need them to pay customs duty, effectively converting the credit into cash through the ICEGATE transfer marketplace.
Q: What happens if I forget to declare RoDTEP on my shipping bill?
A: If the RoDTEP declaration is missed at the time of filing the shipping bill, the credit generally cannot be claimed retroactively for that shipment. This makes it essential to confirm the declaration with your customs house agent before every shipping bill is filed.
Q: Do RoDTEP rates change over time?
A: Yes, RoDTEP rates are periodically reviewed and revised by the government based on budget allocations and industry feedback. Exporters should check the latest notified rate for their HS code on the DGFT website before each shipment rather than relying on rates from a previous year.
Q: Is RoDTEP available for merchant exporters, or only manufacturers?
A: RoDTEP is available to both manufacturer-exporters and merchant exporters, as long as the exported goods qualify under the notified schedule and the shipping bill carries a valid RoDTEP declaration. The scheme does not require the exporter to be the manufacturer of the goods.
Conclusion
RoDTEP is one of the few export incentives in India today that applies almost automatically — but only if you get the shipping bill declaration right every single time. For exporters like Rahul, even a 2-3% credit on FOB value adds up meaningfully across a year of shipments. A good first step is auditing your last few shipping bills to confirm RoDTEP was correctly declared, and checking your ICEGATE scrip ledger for any unclaimed credit sitting idle.
Next in this series: the real mistakes that cost one exporter ₹40,000 in RoDTEP claims — and exactly how to avoid them.
Sethuram Kishore is the founder of MoneyHulk and Worthview, with over 18 years of experience in SEO, digital marketing, and online publishing. Since launching Worthview in 2008, he has published hundreds of articles across finance, business, technology, and consumer topics. Through MoneyHulk, he shares practical, research-backed guides on personal finance, investing, banking, entrepreneurship, and wealth building.
