Don’t hike excise duty: India Inc
The general rate of excise duty has been raised to 12 per cent
New Delhi: India Inc has asked the finance minister Arun Jaitley that for the success of ‘Make in India’ the forthcoming Union Budget should avoid the temptation of raising excise duty or reducing peak custom duty. “While we understand the imperative to garner fiscal resources, CII feels that demand is still fragile. Moreover, the manufacturing sector continues to be vulnerable. Under these circumstances, it would be prudent to allow excise duties to remain at current 12 per cent,” said Chandrajit Banerjee, director general, CII.
The general rate of excise duty has been raised and lowered in conjunction with prevalent economic conditions and stands at 12 per cent as of now. To provide a stimulus to the manufacturing sector, excise duties on automobiles, capital goods, consumer durables, and so on were lowered in February 2014, but this rebate expired in December, 2014.
However, CII said that the demand continues to be weak. “While adding that reduction in rates was desirable but may not be aligned to government’s fiscal situation,” said CII. CII advocated for reduction in excise duty on automotive parts where the applicable rate is higher than that applicable on the automobiles, thus leading to anomalies.