MOOWR defeats purpose of duty hike on capital goods

The government has raised the customs duty on import of some capital goods and issued notifications to raise the customs duty on many more capital goods in due course of time. The government has also kept alive the provisions that will enable many manufacturers to avoid paying the import duty on capital goods altogether.

The government says that it has started removing many exemptions to capital goods for various sectors like power, fertilizer, textiles, leather, footwear, food processin­­­g and fertilizers because they have hindered the growth of the domestic capital goods sector.  Most capital goods would attract 7.5% basic customs duty,