GUJRAT: Despite repeated appeals by manufacturers of electric fans to abolish the 27.5 per cent regulatory and customs duty on the import of electrical steel sheet, the federal government has increased the levy further by 1pc, putting the figure now at 28.5pc.
Gujrat Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Mian Muhammad Ijaz said the pre-budget recommendations had been ignored.
He said electrical steel sheet was one of the major raw materials necessarily required for producing energy-efficient fans. “The regulatory duty, 17pc sales tax, 5pc income tax, 2pc surcharge and other levies have put the over-all cost of the import around 55pc.”Ijaz said he along with other chambers had presented the proposal of bringing the import duty to only 5pc on all the raw material for export-oriented textile, leather, carpet, sports, surgical, engineering, electric fans industries. However, the government facilitated only five sectors ignoring the entire engineering industry including fans sector, by not reducing the duty on import of steel sheet.
He said the federal government had failed to give any incentive to the export-oriented fans industry, besides furniture and pottery sectors of Gujrat.
According to him, the ministries of water and power, industry, commerce, planning, science and technology had also emphasised the finance ministry to reduce duty on the import of steel sheet which was a vital component in reducing energy consumption since the country had been facing power shortage.
GTCCI former president Haji Muhammad Ilyas, a pioneer in the export of electric fans, said since the imposition of heavy duty on the import of electrical steel sheet, only three to four manufacturing units were directly importing the raw material as the government through an order had relaxed the duty only to those who could directly import it.
But rest of the manufacturers who also used to export fans had to rely on the commercial importer that further enhanced the market rate of the sheet whereas the small-scale manufacturers were compelled to use locally-made sheet after recycling the scrap which is considered a substandard material because of more energy consumption, he said.
Another local manufacturer said more than Rs600 million sales tax refund of the Gujrat industry was yet to be paid by the federal government.
Ali Usman, executive member of the GTCCI, said there was no major package for any industry of Gujrat in the budget.
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