Mumbai: The central government is considering abolishing the concessional basic customs duty of 2.50 per cent on copper scrap in the next budget. Industry sources believe that this step will provide relief to domestic units.
Government sources said that earlier this rate was reduced from five percent to two and a half percent, now a proposal has been submitted to the Finance Ministry to completely eliminate this fee.
Copper scrap imports increased by 33.42 per cent to Rs 11,476.76 crore in the first seven months of the current financial year. During this period, maximum imports came from Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia exported Rs 208.43 crore to India.
In the budget for the financial year 2021-22, the duty was reduced to 2.50 percent. Such duties on critical minerals like lithium have been completely abolished in the budget for the current financial year.
This duty was removed with the aim of making basic raw materials available cheaply. However, since copper is not classified as an important mineral in India, its use in various industries is increasing, resulting in an increase in its price.
The demand for copper has increased due to increasing production of electric vehicles domestically and widespread production of electronic components.
Industry sources said if customs duties are relaxed, the industry will be able to increase investment in modern technology of recycling which will improve the quality of recycled copper.
