Steel Ministry seeks relief for steel producers from Finmin

New Delhi, May 5 (UNI) The Steel Ministry today confirmed that it has taken up with government the demand of steel manufacturers for exempting export duty on certain high-end products, like cold rolled galvanised and coated sheets,pipes and tubes, for which raw materials are imported under the advance licensing scheme (ALS).

Clarifying that it has not proposed any partial rollback of the export duties announced by the Finance Ministry, the Steel Ministry said some steel producers manufacturing value-added products had, however, sought exemption on the ground that input materials like hot rolled coils are imported under ALS.

The Finance Ministry had imposed export duty on certain steel products in a bid to contain rising domestic prices and enhance domestic availability of HR coils.

The Finance Ministry last week levied up to 15 per cent export duty on various steel products. With this, steel producers found it uneconomical to import HR coil under ALS, add value to it and export the value-added products after paying taxes.

The Steel Ministry said it has taken the steel producers' demand with the revenue department of the Finance Ministry.

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