SEPC Limited has announced that its Board of Directors will convene on February 02, 2026, to consider a significant proposal regarding variation in the objects of issue. The meeting has been scheduled in accordance with Regulation 30 of SEBI (LODR) Regulations, 2015.

Meeting Details and Purpose

The primary agenda for the board meeting involves consideration and approval of a proposal for variation in the objects of the issue, as mentioned in the Letter of Offer dated May 22, 2025. This proposal will be subject to approval by shareholders through a special resolution.

Regulatory Compliance

SEPC Limited has formally notified both major stock exchanges about the upcoming board meeting. The company has communicated with the National Stock Exchange of India Ltd and BSE Limited, ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements under SEBI (LODR) Regulations, 2015.

Company Communication

The official intimation was signed by T Sriraman, Company Secretary & Compliance Officer, and digitally signed on January 28, 2026. The company has requested both exchanges to take the information on record, maintaining transparency in its corporate governance practices.

This board meeting represents an important corporate development as the company seeks to modify the objects of its previous issue, requiring both board approval and subsequent shareholder consent through a special resolution.

India's services exports are positioned to overtake merchandise exports within the next 18-24 months, provided current growth trends continue and policy bottlenecks are addressed in the upcoming Union Budget. This projection comes from the Services Export Promotion Council (SEPC), which highlights the sector's robust performance amid challenging global trade conditions.

Strong Growth Trajectory Drives Convergence

Services exports are demonstrating remarkable resilience with annual growth rates of 12-13%, significantly outpacing merchandise exports that face headwinds from tariff uncertainties and geopolitical developments. The current export figures reveal a narrowing gap between the two sectors:

SEPC Director General Abhay Sinha emphasized that services have already been offsetting a large portion of India's merchandise trade deficit. "At the current pace, services are very likely to surpass goods exports in absolute terms in the next one-and-a-half to two years," Sinha stated.

Structural Advantages of Services Exports

Unlike goods trade, services exports operate through four distinct delivery modes, making them structurally more resilient:

• Cross-border digital supply
• Consumption by foreign visitors in India
• Overseas commercial presence
• Temporary movement of professionals

This complexity, while making measurement more challenging, provides inherent stability. Despite contributing nearly 55% of India's gross value added, SEPC argues that services remain systematically under-prioritized in export policy frameworks.

Budget Proposal: DRESS Framework

Ahead of Budget 2026-27, SEPC is advocating for a services-specific duty remission framework called DRESS (Duty Remission on Export of Services), modeled after the RoDTEP scheme for goods exports. The proposal addresses a critical competitiveness issue where export-facing services carry a 4-9% tax wedge due to:

• Blocked GST input credits
• Fuel and electricity being outside GST
• Municipal levies and port charges
• Basic customs duty on specialized equipment

Priority Sectors and Fiscal Impact

SEPC has identified five high-employment, high-tax sectors for initial DRESS implementation:

The estimated fiscal requirement for these sectors is ₹45,000-50,000 crore in the first year. SEPC emphasizes this represents a refund of taxes already paid upstream rather than a subsidy, aimed at neutralizing domestic tax distortions that reduce global competitiveness.

Policy Implications

The potential overtaking of merchandise exports by services represents a significant shift in India's export composition. This transition reflects the economy's structural evolution toward services-led growth and highlights the need for policy frameworks that recognize and support this transformation. The success of the DRESS proposal could accelerate this timeline while enhancing India's position in global services markets.