The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) has recommended subsuming of all levies such as royalty and contributions to the District Mineral Foundation (DMF) into one tax like GST to reduce the tax burden on the mining industry. It also argued that the mining sector is going through a tough time due to falling commodity prices and demand contraction.
As the sector is grappling with the challenges of no/limited production owing to lockdown of operations, FICCI has sought deferment of royalty and contributions to DMF and the National Mineral Exploration Trust (NMET) by six months till the economic situation stabilises. It said under such challenging times, when commodity prices are freely falling and demand is contracting, most of the miners are struggling to remain profitable or even survive.
The industry body further recommended smooth operations of ports and inter-state movement of raw material and goods for the mining sector which has been allowed to operate amidst the lockdown. Since subdued demand is a major area of concern for the minerals and metals sector, it also requested the government to push the economy by announcing special packages for the sector. It suggested that policy interventions would help the industry to revive back soon once the situation improves, resulting in enhanced contribution to mineral production, employment opportunities and to overall economy as well as the GDP.