Plastindia urges govt to lower import on polymer & increase custom duty on finished plastic products

New Delhi, Jan 4 (Agency) Ahead of the presentation of Union budget by finance minister Nirmala Sitaraman for 2023-24 in Parliament, Plastindia Foundation has urged the government to lower the import on polymer and increase the custom duty on finished plastic products to support the domestic plastic industry “ Plastindia Foundation is hopeful that the Finance Minister will frame the budget keeping in mind the overall growth and development of the entire plastic industry – from raw materials, and converters to machinery manufacturers. Plastindia Foundation’s motto is to put the Indian plastic industry on a high growth path – from USD 5 trillion in 2025 to an ambitious USD 25 trillion by 2045,” Plastindia Foundation said in a statement on Wednesday.

To drive this growth and to make India the global sourcing hub for plastic, Plastindia Foundation supports the Make in India and Atma Nirbhar Bharat initiatives.” However, we need support from the government to make this a reality,’ the statement added. The demands among others are the import duty on polymer should be between 5 – 7.5 per cent, as India does not produce enough polymer and import is inevitable. Import duty on polymer needs to be lowered to make the Indian plastic industry more competitive. Custom duty on the finished plastic product should be a minimum of 20 pc or more to support the domestic plastic processing industry. The government is focusing on renewable energy, and this presents an opportunity for the plastic industry. However, at present 90 pc of the components for solar panels and windmills are imported and the products are only assembled in India. To encourage the local manufacturers, the custom duty on the import of components like EVA, back sheet, metal frame, solar glass etc., should be at least 20 pc.The plastic industry can play an important role in manufacturing EVA and back sheets.