Pump manufacturing MSMEs demand cut in import duty

New Delhi, Feb 18 (KNN) Tamil Nadu based micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) engaged in pump manufacturing sector have urged the government to bring down the import duty on raw materials as Copper is mainly imported from South Korea and Vietnam.

This demand is due to the rise in prices of raw materials such a copper and stainless used in pump manufacturing which has dampened the growth of MSMEs in the sector.

In last one year the price of Copper increased to Rs 950 from Rs 450 per kg, for cast iron it increased to Rs 110 from Rs 65 per kg, while for stainless steel from Rs 95 to Rs 140, and the stamping charges increased from Rs 90 to Rs 120.

This has impacted the demand which eventually has lowered the manufacturing rate from producing 50 pumps a day to 10-15 units a day.

In Coimbatore district of Tamil Nadu around 3000 small scale pump manufacturing units are functioning and the issue of hike in raw material prices has brought immense financial stress on MSMEs.

Owing to such challenging situations, MSMEs have request the central government to decrease the import duty which was previously at 6 per cent and was recently doubled. (KNN Bureau)