Good policies minus good infrastructure won’t give results: Indian Importers Association

New Delhi, Apr 1 (KNN) Indian importers are facing lots of problems in terms of infrastructure and transaction costs in the country, said the Vice President of Indian Importers Association (IIA), Pradeep Sehgal.

Talking to KNN, he said, “Without infrastructure you cannot import. You can have the best policies in the world but if you don’t have infrastructure those policies won’t give you the results.”

He explained that the transaction cost is very high in India due to poor infrastructure leading to higher storage costs as well.

“Also, lack of uniform taxation system which GST is supposed to give, further hits us. We have multiple taxes which increase the tax burden and hampers the trade,” Sehgal said.

IIA chief said that despite having good intention and good policies, there are gaps in terms of managing ports. “At a time when China is going through a slowdown, liberal policies and other benefits would definitely give India an edge over many others,” he opined.

Talking about the safeguard duty on steel which has been extended till March, 2018, he explained that India does have a policy of putting export duty on certain items especially in the food grains or items which India feels is not having enough volume for exports. They try to balance their domestic needs by putting duties. But in the interest of free trade, import duties should not be there,” he said. (KNN Bureau)