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The All India Granites and Stone Association (AIGSA) has sought the review of Import-Export (Exim) policy to facilitate trade.
Addressing a press conference here on Tuesday, the AssociationPresident, Mr J.B. Surana, said the Union Commerce Ministry should bring rough granite and marble under the Open General Licence (OGL) list so that imports would be freed from arbitrary import-export restrictions.
Raw materials (blocks of granite, marble, lime stone etc), which cannot be used as it is, to be processed and has to be allotted in OGL.
Whereas the import of processed and finished stone products can be regulated to protect the interesting local industries either through licensing or by higher tariff in the present policy framework, which has been side-stepped.
“The Ministry should make suitable changes to this effect in the forthcoming Exim Policy. The changes can play a vital role in shaping the fortunes of the fledging granites and stone industry. Unfortunately, improper and inadequate consultation with us has resulted in severe damage to the sector,” said Mr Surana.
Licensing has been introduced for import of raw material for marble and limestone. There is no single licence/guideline to take care of the needs of the granite industry.
“Granite industry is sophisticated and uses high-technology and has large base in the international exports. If the new policy is formulated and granite industry is brought under OGL, the exports will increase,” said Mr Surana.
Most of the licenses related to granites and stone industry are issued by the Union Commerce Ministry and by the Director-General of Foreign Trade.
The current policy instead of benefiting the wide spectrum of members of the industry based on their performance has resulted in benefiting a selective few members of the industry.
“The current restrictive policy is favouring only few people especially, the marble quarry owners of Rajasthan. Taking advantage of this, few middlemen are trading licenses.
"The current market value of licenses being traded in grey market annually is said to be Rs 300-400 crore,” said Mr Surana.
Investments
Talking about the granite industry, Mr Surana said “The amount of investment which is going into the industry is much larger than the marble industry. Investments made in marble industry may not be more than the one-third of the granite industry.”
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