New Delhi, May 23 (KNN) Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) has said that the reduction in excise duty on petrol, diesel will bring down the domestic prices of key inputs which will lead to the softening of inflation.

On May 21, the central government announced a cut in excise duty on petrol and diesel of Rs 8 and Rs 6 per litre, respectively and a reduction in import duty on the raw material of steel & plastic.

Dr A Sakthivel, President, FIEO, hailed the decision and stated that this will also add to the competitiveness of the manufacturing and export sector and will further push value-added exports from the country.

“These proactive measures will also ease the logistics pressure and bring down the freight bill of the country as in some cases the same raw material was being exported from the country and subsequently being imported by the downstream users,” said Sakthivel.

He further urged the government to consider similar measures for some of the textile inputs as the rising prices are making it extremely difficult for exports of value-added apparel sector to meet the increasing competition.

Export Duty on Cotton and duty free import of Cotton Yarn will help in domestic availability of these inputs at competitive cost, said FIEO chief.   (KNN Bureau)