Press Trust of India
New Delhi, Nov 19: Government is considering raising import duty on aluminium products by as much as 5 per cent, among other policy measures, to tackle the unabated import of cheap products that is adversely impacting the sector. “Domestic aluminium industry is going through tough time. Some firms have approached Directorate General of Safeguards for a hike in safeguard duty. “If it doesn’t happen, we in our pre-budget consultation with Finance Ministry will propose for import duty hike,” Mines Secretary Balvinder Kumar told PTI.
He said the government is aware of the situation that the industry is going through and it will take appropriate measures to check that. When asked about the import duty hike, he said: “We will propose to raise it to 7.5 or 10 per cent from the present 5 per cent.” Sources said mining conglomerate Vedanta has approached Directorate General of Safeguards, while Hindalco, the flagship firm of the Aditya Birla Group, is in the process. Last month, aluminium industry officials met Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia and pitched for a safeguard duty on the lines of one on steel products to check cheap imports from China and West Asia.
In September, Aluminium Association of India members — Vedanta CEO Tom Albanese, Deputy MD Hindalco D Satish Pai and Nalco CMD T K Chand — met Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and requested him to raise import duty on the metal. Domestic producers are facing the twin problems of cheaper imports and meltdown in global prices. Primary aluminium prices at the London Metal Exchange have dropped 42 per cent to $1,540 a tonne in August from $2,623 per tonne in April 2011.
While, aluminium hot metal cost of production (excluding interest and depreciation) on the domestic front has risen 29 per cent to Rs 1.2 lakh a tonne from Rs 93,700 because of an increase in the cost of power, logistics and introduction of the renewable power obligation and a clean energy cess.