Sector playbook
Marine products exporters: the four things you are leaving on the table.
Frozen shrimp (HS 030617) is India's single largest food export by value. The RoDTEP rate for vannamei has fluctuated from 2.5 to 1.5 to 2.4 percent over three notifications in 24 months. Tracking these changes manually costs Andhra and Gujarat shrimp exporters lakhs of rupees per shipment.
- Sector export value, FY 24-25
- Rs 60,500 crore (FY 2024-25)
- Avg RoDTEP rate
- 2.5%
- RoSCTL stacking
- Not applicable
- HS chapters covered
- 03, 16
Top 10 HS codes in this sector
Sorted by RoDTEP rate. Click through for the detailed page on each code.
| HS code | Description | RoDTEP | Drawback | GST refund |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 160520 | Shrimps and prawns, prepared/preserved | 2.70% | 1.45% | 0.5% |
| 030621 | Rock lobster and other sea crawfish, frozen | 2.60% | 1.40% | 0.5% |
| 030617 | Frozen warm-water shrimps and prawns (incl. vannamei) | 2.50% | 1.35% | 0.5% |
| 160551 | Oysters, prepared/preserved | 2.50% | 1.35% | 0.5% |
| 030489 | Frozen fillets of other fish | 2.40% | 1.25% | 0.5% |
| 030616 | Frozen cold-water shrimps and prawns | 2.40% | 1.25% | 0.5% |
| 030619 | Other frozen crustaceans | 2.40% | 1.25% | 0.5% |
| 030487 | Frozen tuna fillets | 2.30% | 1.20% | 0.5% |
| 030749 | Other cuttlefish and squid, frozen/dried/salted | 2.30% | 1.20% | 0.5% |
| 030562 | Frozen cod, dried, salted or in brine | 2.00% | 0.95% | 0.5% |
Quirks of this sector that cost exporters money
- 01Vannamei vs black tiger shrimp classification under 030617 affects MPEDA approvals.
- 02Antibiotic residue test certificates are required for EU and US shipments, often missing from claim files.
- 03MPEDA RCMC is the most rigorously audited council. Renewal lapses cause RoDTEP holds.
- 04Cold-chain SOPs need temperature-logger data attached to the consignment file at scrip generation.
- 05Frozen vs chilled fish carry materially different sub-codes. Check the HS-8 line, not the HS-6 parent.
Schemes that apply
Three illustrative cases from this sector
Names redacted at customer request. Recovery numbers from FY 2024-25 audits.
Rs 14,80,000 annual
Visakhapatnam shrimp, 64 cr turnover
Vannamei was being filed under HS 030616 (cold-water) instead of 030617 (warm-water). MPEDA validation was triggering refund holds.
Rs 6,40,000 annual
Cochin frozen fish, 31 cr turnover
Tuna fillets HS 030487 had a clearer eligibility path than the generic HS 0304 the firm was using. Pre-shipment inspection certificates were also missing from 12 percent of claim files.
Rs 8,90,000 annual
Gujarat marine processors, 41 cr turnover
Antibiotic residue test certificates were missing from EU-bound shipments, blocking 9 RoDTEP scrips. Documentation cleanup cleared the queue.
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