Plastics industry demands trebling of duty on Chinese products

Ahead of the union budget, the All India Plastics Manufacturers' Association (AIPMA), the country's apex plastics industry body, expressed the hope today that the centre will accept their three major demands, including a higher import duty on Chinese products.

AIPMA president Rituraj Gupta said that the plastics industry has high hopes on the next budget.

"In our recent representation to the centre, we have put forward three of our main demands. We want excise duty relief for the plastic industry. We also want significant increase in import duty on plastic goods imported from China. It should be increased from the current 5 per cent to 15 per cent," he told newspersons in Ahmedabad.

"Our third demand is related to the proposed Goods and Service Tax (GST). We have requested that it should not be more than 18 to 20 per cent for the plastic industry. The government has accepted all our demands and we are hopeful that it will be reflected in the next union budget," Gupta said.

He said that AIPMA has plans to promote the use of plastic products in a big way to help the central government implement various initiatives like 'Swachh Bharat Abhiyan', 'More Crop Per Drop', 'Housing for All' and smart city projects.

"We are interested in the successful implementation of various central government programmes. We believe that the success of these initiatives relies greatly on how we use plastic, which is one of the best alternative materials," Gupta said.