Indian ministries start talks on lower steel and aluminum import duties in national budget

Tuesday, 28 December 2021 13:31:31 (GMT+3)   |   Kolkata
       

Officials in India’s ministry of finance and its counterparts in other ministries have commenced discussions on the reduction of import duties on a host of commodities including steel, aluminum, copper and polymers, ahead of the submission of the National Budget 2022-23 before the Indian parliament in February, government sources said on Tuesday, December 28.

According to the sources, there is a “lot of common ground which has been covered” on the need to offer lower import duties to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) as relief from surging commodity prices to bring down the cost of manufacturing and enable industrial units to recover from the impact of the pandemic.

The sources said that import duties on certain critical steel inputs like nickel for example could also be reduced to zero.

The Federation of Indian Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (FISME) in a memorandum to the finance ministry has sought the complete scrapping of all import duties on steel, aluminum and polymers and the suspension of additional customs duties on these categories to rein in domestic prices of inputs.

Currently, the basic import duty is 7.5 percent for steel, while it is 10 percent for aluminum, five percent for copper and 10 percent on polymers, plus 18 percent integrated goods service tax (GST).


Similar articles

Indian steel industry seeks tariff adjustments from government to check imports

06 Mar | Steel News

Indian government looking into dumping of steel in the country

08 Nov | Steel News

India to fight against EU’s CBAM at WTO, other countries also on board

08 Nov | Steel News

SAIL moves finance ministry seeking CVD on stainless steel imports from China

24 May | Steel News

India’s steel ministry rejects industry demand for basic customs duty hike to check rising imports

28 Apr | Steel News

Indian steel companies seek reimposition of AD duties to check surging imports

11 Apr | Steel News

Indian met coke producers petition government for imposition of AD duty on imports

22 Feb | Steel News

India’s ministry of steel seeks complete scrapping of import duty on coking coal in national budget next year

28 Dec | Steel News

India’s DGTR starts probe into rising ferromolybdenum imports from S. Korea

06 Oct | Steel News

India recommends AD duty on ex-China seamless stainless steel pipes and tubes

28 Sep | Steel News