Tech inputs duty review soon

livemint.com:

NEW DELHI : The government is set to rationalize tariffs for inputs and sub-components used for making electronics goods, according to minister of electronics and information technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar. The ministry of electronics and information technology has been in discussions with the revenue department under the ministry of finance to review the tariffs or import duties on the components that are needed for local production of finished goods that is being scaled up. “We have in the last budget also made our point of view known to the department of revenue.

They are very positive, very open. The finance minister herself is very seized of the matter. I think you will see that as the Indian economy is transitioning from the model of manufacturing for local demand to a manufacturing-for-global-demand model, that our tariffs will also reform," Chandrasekhar said in an interaction with Mint last week.

“In the coming 10 to 12 months, you will see a lot of relook at tariff on components, making it easier, more viable and competitive for exports," he noted. Chandrasekhar however added that it was up to his ministry to convince the department of revenue that the exports growth story from India was here to stay and would increase from here on. “It is also a question of at what point does the graph (of local production and exports) and the inflection point intersect, that gives comfort to the Department of Revenue, that exports are really a sustainable model.

It is our duty to convince and persuade them that this is not some one-year phenomenon but a a permanent business model. Electronics will continue to grow double digit, and exports will continue to grow even faster," he noted. He added that the case for revising or