New Delhi:The Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC) has suggested the government to rationalise customs duties in various sectors including steel, solar battery, aluminum, and lithium cells in a bid to boost domestic manufacturing.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is scheduled to present the Union Budget for financial year 2024-25 on July 23. ICC President Ameya Prabhu said protective measures are needed for the growth of domestic industry in sectors including steel, solar battery, aluminum, and lithium cells.
"There is a need for rationalization of customs duty in these specific sectors in a holistic manner. Huge potential is there to boost domestic manufacturing and make India a global hub for manufacturing," Prabhu said. While adding that taxes on raw materials impact domestic players particularly the downstream firms.
Talking about the importance of the aluminium foil sector, the President said the domestic industry has been facing severe losses as there is anti-dumping duty on raw materials whereas the finished goods are not subject to any duties on imports from China. He also asked for correction in inverted duty structure by cutting down duty on mixed petroleum gas from 5 % to 2%.
He emphasized that, there is a need to increase duty on polymers - polyvinyl chloride, polyethylene terephthalate, polypropylene and polyesters to 10 per cent for improve domestic manufacturing .This will help in reducing import dependency and will drive India towards self-sufficiency in the petrochemical manufacturing segment. .
On the taxation side, the chamber has suggested setting up a commission to review the Income Tax Act 1961 in its entirety and simplify the provisions, stressing that over the years amendments have made the act complex to understand and the resulting anomalies have given rise to a large number of legal cases. And directed the government not to impose tax on dividends.