Retail sector seeks better infra, duty cut on furniture in upcoming Budget

Industry chamber Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) on Wednesday put forth several recommendations on behalf of the retail sector ahead of the upcoming budget in February.
For representational purpose. (File Photo)
For representational purpose. (File Photo)

NEW DELHI:  Industry chamber Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) on Wednesday put forth several recommendations on behalf of the retail sector ahead of the upcoming budget in February. This includes a reduction in custom duties on furniture imports, revamping local testing facilities for import of certain items, amendment of a law under GST to permit cross-state returns, and reviewing Customs Act to control imports under free trade agreements. 

“Recently we have seen that customs duty on furniture products and raw material to manufacture furniture products has been increased substantially. This has resulted in disturbance in the furniture industry. This further has resulted in inflation,” CII said in its pre-budget memorandum.

Earlier this year, the government had moved to hike custom duties on imported furniture to 25 per cent from 20 per cent to safeguard the interests of India’s small businesses. CII noted that the recent tariff measures have been a “disappointment”. Trade barriers such as import duties are against ideas of a global economy and ease of doing business and will lead to higher costs in India, it said. 

While tariff increases result in higher prices for imports, they also reduce incentives for keeping the cost of production down. “This puts a brake on plans to make products affordable to customers,” it said. India’s toy industry has also been affected by a few recently announced changes that enforce stricter compliance on imports.

For each article of toy imported, importers draw samples and hand it over to the customs officer for sealing and allocating the lab for testing. CII has recommended developing a test lab infrastructure near major ports. 

Related Stories

No stories found.
The New Indian Express
www.newindianexpress.com