The Indian Newspaper Society (INS) has requested the Centre to withdraw the 10% customs duty imposed on newsprint, uncoated paper used for printing of newspapers and lightweight papers used in magazines.
In a statement, INS said on Monday that newspapers and magazines were already reeling under severe financial pressure due to dipping advertisement revenues, higher costs and a “digital onslaught from technological giants.”
“Small and medium newspapers will go into deeper losses and many of them will be forced to close down,” the newspaper collective underlined.
According to the statement, the annual consumption of newsprint in the country was estimated at 2.5 million tonnes while the capacity of domestic producers was only 1 million tonnes. “In the case of uncoated [glazed] and lightweight [LWC] paper there are no domestic manufacturers.”
It called for “urgent government intervention” to save the Indian newspaper industry by “scrapping the unbearable burden” imposed on it.
