Govt looking at doubling aluminium import duty: Sitharaman

This, after companies warn of job cuts due to low prices, rising imports

The government is examining a request to double the import duty on aluminium to 10%, the country's trade minister said on Friday, after companies such as Vedanta Ltd warned of job cuts due to low world prices and rising supplies from overseas.

The trade ministry has forwarded a request from the Aluminium Association of India to the revenue department for necessary action, Nirmala Sitharaman told parliament in a written reply.

The department had rejected similar requests earlier, she said.

India's per-capita consumption of aluminium, used in everything from aeroplanes to lemon squeezers, is about 2.2 kg, compared with 25 kg in China. But demand is growing at an annual rate of about 11% against global growth of 6%.

 

About 1.5 million of India's annual aluminium demand of 3.5 million tonne is met through imports from China and the Middle East. Imports rose 4% to 390,000 tonne in the April-June quarter from a year ago.