Turning down pleas from stainless steel user industries, India’s Ministry of Finance is expected to double import duty on stainless steel to 15 percent from 7.5 percent soon, a Ministry of Steel official said on Friday, April 22.
The ministry official said that, in response to local steel mills which had complained against the inflow of high volumes of cheap imports from China, the Ministry of Steel has recommended a doubling of import duty and the Ministry of Finance is expected to issue a formal notification within the next few days.
The official said that the government is also reviewing the option to impose a safeguard duty of around 30 percent on stainless steel. The duty was imposed earlier for 173 categories of steel products apart from stainless steel.
However, at the same time, the Process Plant and Machinery Association of India (PPMAI), representing some of the largest steel user industries in India, has written to the Indian prime minister Narendra Modi, objecting to the imposition of import protection measures for stainless steel, the official said.
The ministry official said that user industries claim that domestic production of stainless steel is not sufficient to meet demand and even some high-value stainless steel is not manufactured within the country.