"I will be presenting the Policy on August 31. We are looking at a comprehensive, stable and consistent policy for agri products so that the exporters are able to retain the market place and space they develop abroad," Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath said on Friday at a function organised by Indo-American Chambers of Commerce.

He said while government was considering bringing out a comprehensive food grain export policy, the fear of an impending drought has led to some uncertainty.

Nath said the government is making all efforts to create a level-playing field for the Domestic Tarrif area units, Export Oriented units and Special Economic Zones.

"In the next three weeks, we will take the first step forward to try set the direction," he said.

Emphasising that taxes and levies should not be exported, he said government had created a mechanism to neutralise them for exporters and is looking at ways and means to see that even states follow this policy.

He also assured the exporters that the 'sunset' clause with regard to income tax benefits to SEZs was also being looked into.

Source: PTI, August 14' 2004