Commerce Ministry Puts Bharti Airtel In Denied Entry List

The commerce ministry has put Bharti Airtel Ltd. in denied entry list for non-fulfilment of export obligation under an export promotion scheme, sources said.

The Directorate General of Foreign Trade, which is under the ministry, has put the company under this list which is commonly known as backlist for non-fulfilment of export obligation in respect of certain Export Promotion Capital Goods authorisation issued to them, they said.

"Airtel has not taken any such licence since April 2018, as there is no operational requirement. In fact, the company has already applied for the closure of all past licences that were due and is awaiting approval from the authorities,"said sources in Airtel.

Due to this, the company will not be able to avail any export benefit or licence from the DGFT. An e-mail send to the company did not elicit any immediate response.

The Export Promotion Capital Goods is an export promotion scheme. Under this, import of capital goods are allowed at zero customs duty for manufacturing quality goods and services.

Under the scheme, capital goods imported at zero duty must fulfil EPCG export obligation equivalent to 6 times of duty saved on the capital goods.