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Our Bureau

Chennai , Sept 6

CONSUMER Electronics and TV Manufacturers Association (CETMA) has called for rationalisation of duties to help them compete with cheaper imports.

Mr Gulu Mirchandani, Chairman and Managing Director, Mirc Electronics, and President of CETMA, said that after the India Thailand free trade agreement imports from Thailand (because of the favourable duty structure) are cheaper than products manufactured here.

In the case of colour picture tubes, its raw materials, glass parts and chemicals attract an import duty of 15 per cent in India while their imports are duty free in Thailand. Customs duty on colour picture tubes is further reduced to 6.25 per cent this month and to zero per cent by September next year.

He said that this would result in Indian companies choosing to import from Thailand rather than manufacture here. Multinationals such as Sony and Panasonic have stopped manufacture in India and have been importing, Mr Mirchandani said. This move would have dire consequences, as a large number of people would lose jobs.

Consumer electronics have been growing at a rate of 15 per cent. The consumer profile has changed over the past few years and many of the products, which were earlier seen as luxury items are no longer considered so, Mr Ravinder Zutsi, Deputy Managing Director, Samsung India Electronics Ltd, said.

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