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Siema seeks resumption of coke production at NLC

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Our Correspondent Chennai/ Coimbatore
The Southern India Engineering Manufacturers Association (SIEMA) has urged the Tamil Nadu chief minister, M Karunanidhi, to make necessary arrangements for resumption of production of Leco coke in the Neyveli Lignite Corporation (NLC).
 
In a memorandum to the chief minister, C R Shanmughasundaram, vice-president of the association, said NLC was earlier supplying Leco coke, which is used by foundries, brick kilns, sugar mills, paper mills, dyeing and bleaching units.
 
Leco coke was eco-friendly and gave more calories of heat than raw wood and charcoal, he pointed out. He added that felling of trees could be avoided if Leco coke was available in sufficient quantity to meet the needs of user industries.
 
"Considering the advantages of using Leco coke, the government should take steps to resume production of Leco coke at NLC," he said.
 
Earlier, in its memorandum to Union finance minister P Chidambaram, the association sought the revival of the Hindustan Copper Limited, to keep the spiralling copper prices under check and to help the small scale engineering and foundry units in the region.
 
SIEMA has also sought implementation of value added tax (VAT) in Tamil Nadu.
 
Shanmughasundaram pointed out that the implementation of VAT would help manufacturers of motors and pumps to avail themselves of input tax credit to reduce the cost of production.
 
"While the government has removed entry tax on iron items, it has left out the raw materials required by the motor and pump industry such as stainless steel flats, rounds, SS sheets, etc. Since the industry procures these products in large volumes from other states, they should be exempted from the entry tax levy," he added.

 
 

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First Published: Jun 06 2006 | 12:00 AM IST

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