Industries hit by inverted duty structure or dumping should represent their case to the ministries concerned fast as the Union Budget will be presented sooner than the usual February 28, according to the Union Minister of State for Commerce, Nirmala Sitharaman.

In an interaction organised by the Chennai International Centre (CIC) here today, she said the issue of inverted duty structure, where finished products face lower import duty than the raw material, have been addressed in some sectors during the last budget. Since then Finance Ministry has also engaged the industries sector-by-sector on this issue.

Industries that still have a grouse relating to duty structure should present their case as early as possible as the Ministry is clear that it should be corrected fast.

She was responding to a question from A Vellayan, Chairman, Murugappa Group, who sought action ahead of the budget on inverted duty structure and imposition of Non Tariff Barrier considered against China which dumped a range of products resulting in domestic industries such phosphatic fertiliser units working at less than capacity.

On the non tariff barrier, she said, when specific issues have been identified the Commerce Ministry has responded to the representation from the sector or industry.

To a question from Preetha Reddy, Executive Vice Chairperson, Apollo Hospitals Enterprise, who while complimenting the government on the implementation of JAM trinity asked when a double-digit growth in economy can be expected.

The Minister said Jan Dhan Yojana, the financial inclusion scheme; Aadhaar, unique identity card; and Mobile phone connectivity together have started delivering huge benefits in the form of transparent and efficient delivery of benefits and plugging leakages in subsidies.

A growth of “8 per cent is achievable on the back of the rapid roll out of the programmes which now cover most households.” Big ticket corruption and massive wastages have been plugged leading to huge savings.

Roll out of the Goods and Services Tax on a digitised platform on which over 2.5 billion transactions will be covered will have positive impact on GDP according to experts, she said.

Along with that increased public funding of infrastructure, power issues being sorted out, coal availability improved, infrastructure bottlenecks being addressed and the RBI cutting down on rates, there is reason enough for an upswing in the economy. Investors will also start acting, she said.

The Government is also keen on supporting SMEs in technology sourcing, supporting exports and giving them priority in manufacturing and credit delivery, she said at the interaction organised by CIC, a platform created by leading industrialists and professionals for thought leaders in diverse fields to share and exchange their views on topical issues

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