Duty relief on 65 items may go

The government has identified 65 items, including aviation turbine fuel, tooth powder, typewriters, pressure cookers, bicycles, dolls and kerosene pressure lanterns, on which it intends to withdraw Customs and excise exemptions.

The finance ministry has asked industry to provide a rationale for continuation of exemptions on these items by June 10, 2006.

"If there are other exemptions that merit withdrawal but are not listed herein, the same may also be mentioned along with the rationale for their withdrawal," an official release said.

Finance Minister P Chidambaram had said in this year's Budget that most exemptions that were end-use based or had outlived their utility or gave rise to disputes would be removed.

Following the Budget announcement, the finance ministry has drawn up a list of 21 items for which Customs duty exemption is proposed to be withdrawn and 44 items for which excise exemptions may no longer apply.

The items for which Customs duty exemption is proposed to be withdrawn include television cameras, audio recording units and wireless apparatus.

The products that may no longer qualify for excise duty exemptions include sports goods, recorded video cassettes intended for television broadcasting, tableware of steel and copper and optical glass.