E-Paper
Peak customs duty may be retained at 10 pc in Budget
The government is unlikely to reduce peak customs duty rate from the current 10 per cent-level in the Budget 2009-10.
The government is unlikely to reduce peak customs duty rate from the current 10 per cent-level in the Budget 2009-10.
The peak rate of customs duty imposed on most of the items may not be reduced from the current 10 per cent-level in the Budget to be presented on July 6, sources in the finance ministry said.
Industry body CII has recommended that the customs duty should not be slashed from the prevailing rate of 10 per cent.
Also, the exemption of four per cent special countervailing duty (CVD) on imported goods should be withdrawn, as indigenous goods attract value added tax and central sales tax, the chamber said.
The peak rate of customs duty on non-agricultural products was slashed from 12.5 per cent to ten per cent in the budget 2007-08, while in 2008-09 it was retained at 10 per cent.
The demand from the country's corporate sector have come amid the global financial slowdown and cheap imports flooding the Indian markets.
