25% import duty on stainless steel coin blanks

 The duty on cupro nickel, a high end stainless steel ( 25 per cent copper and 75 per cent nickel compound) used exclusively for minting two rupees and five rupees coins, has also been raised from nil to 30 per cent.

 Government is also planning to apply this new norm to the two global tenders that had been placed for import of coin blanks.

 Volume of business in the coin blank production for the stainless steel industry is expected to be about Rs 200 crore and in terms of quantum about 20000-22000 tonne of stainless steel would flow into the manufacturing of coin blanks, NC Mathur, president, ISSDA, remarked.

 At present, India is the 8th largest producer of stainless steel while Japan tops the list of global producers with a production of 3.835 million tonne. In a global production of 21.5 million tonne, India