Plastic manufacturers seek higher import duty on finished goods

New Delhi, June 25 (IANS) India's plastic manufacturing industry has sought an increase in customs duty on unsafe plastic materials and finished goods in the full-budget 2019-20, which will be presented on July 5.

According to the budget recommendations made to the government by the All India Plastic Manufacturers Association, customs duty on finished goods should be increased to 20 per cent to stop the use of unsafe plastic material in India.

"Impose 'anti-dumping or safeguard duty' on import of cheap plastic finished goods," said the memorandum of recommendations.

It has also recommended maintaining a minimum gap of 12.5 per cent between raw material and finished goods. "Plastic finished goods (plastics and its articles) should be excluded from all FTAs (Free Trade Agreements)," the memorandum said.

It also asked for urgent reimbursement of state levies and local taxes (RoSL) to the industry, and opposed the Indian Chemical Council's proposal to hike import duty on raw material saying that it could lead to supply disruption and in turn hurt the cost competitiveness of 50,000 plastics processors in India.

The Association sought a capital investment subsidy of 10 per cent for plastics processing machines and 30 per cent for plastics recycling machines. It also demanded a Rs 3,000 crore subsidy for the Technology Upgradation Fund.

The Association said that the industry was aligned towards environment protection and that phasing out and banning of specific plastic products should be considered only after a due process of understanding the implications arising out of it.

The government plans to ban single-use plastics by 2022.