Union Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh on Friday urged Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee to increase the customs duty on auto components to 10 per cent in his budget proposals to help the domestic industry face the cheap import challenge from countries like China.
“We have already suggested to the Finance Minister a 10 per cent customs duty on any imports of auto components so far as the auto industry is concerned,” Mr. Deshmukh told journalists here. A similar demand has also been made for power equipment. Domestic component manufacturers have been demanding imposition of customs duty to cheap increased shipments from China.
The Auto Component Manufacturers Association (ACMA) has already approached the Union Finance Ministry as well as the Heavy Industry Ministry in this connection. The auto sector is now importing components worth over Rs.2,000 crore from China. This has gone up particularly after 2007 when the customs duty was reduced to 7.5 per cent to control inflation, but has since remained unchanged.
