ICC suggests removal of duty on coking coal in Budget 2016

It’s not an unknown fact that India’s steel and iron industry aren’t flaring well these days, and in order for them to sail through the tough times, industry body Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC) has demanded that the government should remove the 6% duty on coking coal, which includes 2.5% import duty.

It has also said that iron ore production needs to be increased so that the needs of steelmakers can be met in time.

"A duty of 2.5 per cent was imposed on coking coal in 2014. This has increased the cost of steel making in India that is impacting the competitiveness of manufacturing steel products in India," Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC) has said in a letter to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.

The move has come at a time when the whole country is looking forward to the upcoming Union Budget to know the fate of the heavy industries for one year. To support their claims, the chamber has said that there weren’t any duties on imports of coking coal before 2014.

Talking of the iron industry, the chamber has also written a letter to Steel Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, claiming the need for the increase in the production of iron ore.

"In Odisha, against a capacity of 90 million tonnes per annum for captive mines, the annualised production rate for the current year is 50 MTPA," the letter said.

The chamber also wants the government to consider selling the whole ore production should through auctions so that hoarding can be avoided. It has also urged the government to finalise how non-captive iron ore mines should be auctioned.

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