No need to slap further import duty on steel: Steel Ministry

22 Feb 2013 Evaluate

Rejecting domestic manufacturers' plea for hiking import duty on the alloy, the steel ministry said there is no need to initiate such an action right now as imports have not reached an alarming level. As per the recent sectoral report by India Ratings and Research, steel imports grew by 24.8% during the January-November 2012 to 7 million tonne over the same period of the previous year.

Ministry is of the view that, given the small volume of imports, which is not more than 6-7 million tonne, any move to make them costlier might prove wrong to others who depend on steel because of limited or zero availability in the country. Pursuant to which, the steel ministry has not asked the finance ministry to hike import duty on steel in its Budget proposals for the next financial year.

The government in 2012-13 Budget, increased basic customs duty on non-alloy, flat-rolled steel from 5% earlier to 7.5%. To rein in 'dumping' of the alloy - which has gone up by at least 40% in the first six months of current fiscal, domestic steel makers have been clamoring for a rise in import duty.

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