New Delhi, Dec 11 (KNN) The All India Plastics Manufacturers Association (AIPMA) has urged government for reduction in custom duties on raw material, imposing anti-dumping duty on import of cheap finished products and review of Foreign Trade Agreements.

According to a release by industry body AIPMA, “The industry has demanded that custom duty of PVC should be brought down to 7.5% from present 10 % as nearly 50% of demand in India is being met through imports due to lack of domestic capacity.”

The industry body has also demanded enforcement of mandatory BIS standards and technology up gradation fund for the industry among others.

"AIPMA has urged the government including Ministry of Commerce not to come under pressure from any quarter to increase custom duty on key raw material. The industry demanded that custom duty of PVC should be brought down from 10% to 7.5% as nearly 50% of demand in India is being met through imports due to lack of domestic capacity,” said Jagat Killawala, President, AIPMA .

Any increase in custom duty will affect the agriculture sector due to high use of Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) pipes and fittings, he added.

Custom duty of Polypropylene and Polyethylene should be retained at 7.5%. If increased, it would have adverse effect on automotive, healthcare segments and would lead to cost increases in the value chain. Increasing Tariff for PET will affect the processing and consumer segment and thus tariff for PET should be retained to 5% to nurture consumer products consumption. It was further demanded that the custom duty on SAN and ABS should be brought to 5% to nurture associated industries growth, Killawala said.

The plastics processing industry comprises of over 50,000 micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) employing around 50 lakhs people. It is a major contributor to the Indian economy manufacturing goods worth Rs. 3.75 Lakhs crore annually.

“However, it is under severe strain due to cheap imports from China and other south Asian countries. Industry demanded that the Delta of minimum 10% should be maintained between custom duty of raw material and plastics finished goods." said Killawala. (KNN Bureau)