For exporters reeling under the pressure of a surging rupee, Budget 2008-09 fails to bring any succour. The finance ministry has said it may not be able to provide further relief measures to exporters, despite the commerce ministry?s disappointment over lack of such incentives in the Budget.

Sources said North Block was of the view that the Budget had provided enough relief measures to exporters in the form of leaving the customs duty rate unchanged and raising limits of the market stabilization scheme.

The revised fiscal cost of the sterilisation of inflows for 2007-08 is estimated at Rs 8,200 crore. ?More relief measures may not be given out,? a source confirmed.

Exporters have already been given three relief packages amounting to over Rs 8,000 crore.

On the issue of service tax refund to exporters, ministry sources said they had provided refund for as many services as can be suitably monitored. If further monitoring mechanisms can be provided or worked out, refund would be given on other services, they added. The revenue department has provided exporters service tax refund on 13 export-related services. These include refund on port services, general insurance and inspection and certification agency services.

Meanwhile, commerce and industry minister Kamal Nath is reported to be disappointed with the Budget?s silence on exporters and is planning to meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh soon to seek fiscal relief for them. Commerce ministry sources pointed out that none of the recommendations of the Rangarajan and the Krishnamurthy committees has been considered in the Budget. The rupee has appreciated by over 13% since January last year.

Not just the commerce ministry but various industry chambers and exporters? organisations, too, have expressed disappointment over the absence of fiscal measures to bail out exporters in the Budget.

Hit by rupee appreciation against the dollar, exporters have retrenched 30,000 regular employees and 100,000 contract labourers. According to latest figures, exports during April-January this fiscal amounted to $124.19 billion, leaving a balance of $35.81 billion to meet the $160-billion target set by the commerce ministry.